When Ubisoft announced its new Viking epic two days ago, Assassin’s Creed fans who raced to pre-order Valhalla for PC were surprised to find that a Steam version was missing. Many were hoping that was an oversight, but unfortunately, Ubisoft has confirmed that the game will, in fact, be exclusive to Uplay and the Epic Games Store.
“Ubisoft has confirmed that Valhalla will only be sold on one third-party store, the Epic Games Store,” Gamespot reported. “The game will also release on PC through Ubisoft’s Uplay service. The franchise’s return after a year away is sure to be a big draw for Epic’s digital store, which has seen an increasing number of third-party games launch as exclusives over the last year.”
So, for the first time ever, a mainline Assassin’s Creed game will be unavailable to buy on Steam. That’s probably staying that way, too, based on comments made by Ubisoft’s vice president for partnerships and revenue, Chris Early. Speaking to the New York Times, Early admitted that he wasn’t a fan of Steam and its business model, which demands 30 percent of game sales. For Ubisoft (and many other publishers/developers), the Epic Game Store is far more attractive, taking only 12 percent.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will be launching this holiday on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, as well as PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia. Those of you who enjoyed its cinematic world premiere trailer may want to check out Ubisoft’s breakdown with developer commentary.