A new Odyssey for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X owners? Assassin's Creed: Valhalla set to feature biggest map in the series so far

It appears that, despite an earlier statement to the contrary, Assassin's Creed: Valhalla on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X will feature the largest world map in the series til date. During an interview with French journalist Julien Chieze, translated by Redditor Vesat, AC: Valhalla producer Julien Laferriere stated that the Valhalla map will “probably be a bit larger” than Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey’s map and that the game was “not small."

On the surface, this seems to contradict what Malek Teffaha, a Ubisoft communications rep, said in a now-deleted tweet. Taffeha tweeted in Arabic that Valhalla will be neither the largest nor lengthiest title in the franchise.

But, reading between the lines, it's possible to see how both Taffeha's and Laferriere's claims can be true at the same time.

The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X feature ultra-fast SSD storage, delivering a radical boost to asset streaming rates, and making it possible for developers to craft open worlds with unprecedented levels of detail.

In AC: Valhalla, Ubisoft is likely leveraging SSD throughput to build larger, more detailed environments with minimal pop-in. However, this doesn't mean that the game has to be longer.

By cutting out bloat, such as excessive fetch quests and collectible missions, Ubisoft could deliver a shorter, more focused Assassin's Creed experience, even if Valhalla's playable area is larger.

Also, "shorter" is a relative term. Assassin's Creed: Odyssey takes upwards of 70 hours for one play-through. Even if Valhalla is only half as long, it would still be nearly five times as long as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)'s campaign.

AC: Valhalla is set to release later this year and it could well be both the biggest and tightest Assassin's Creed title we've seen in years.