A.C. Valhalla Promises 30fps on Xbox Series X; Is Next-Gen Already Outdated?

• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will run at 30 fps on all platforms, including the Xbox Series X, Ubisoft has announced.
• The game will instead focus on offering a 4K resolution.
• The news appears to contradict statements by Xbox that the console would offer 60 fps as standard output.

Ubisoft has announced that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will run at 30 frames per second across all platforms, including Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox Series X.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla To Run At 30 fps Across All Platforms

Speaking to Eurogamer , a Ubisoft representative explains that the publisher is intent on leveraging ‘the capabilities of the new consoles to deliver the most immersive experience possible.’

Touching specifically about Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the representative says:

Currently, we can guarantee that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will run at least 30 FPS. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will benefit from faster loading times, allowing players to immerse themselves in history and the world without friction. Finally, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will benefit from improved graphics made possible by the Xbox Series X, and we can’t wait to see the beautiful world we’re creating in stunning 4K resolution.

The wording is, of course, purposefully vague, and leaves open the possibility of higher frame rates. But the suggestion is that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will run at the same standard 30 fps on the Xbox Series X as on current-gen versions. As a baseline for what players can expect, it’s certainly disappointing. 30 fps doesn’t exactly sound too next-gen, though.

Ubisoft appears more intent on pushing a 4K resolution, which doesn’t quite have the same novelty as higher frame rates given the availability of 4K on pro-level existing PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X. At least 60 fps promotes the idea that the next-gen does offer a significant generational leap.

Whether Valhalla will allow players to tinker with the resolution to improve frame rates is unclear as it stands, but even then, sacrificing 4K for at least 60 fps isn’t what most were expecting from a next-gen title.

Xbox’s 60 fps Promise Already Broken

Additionally, the news seems at odds not only with fan expectations but with what Microsoft describes as the standard output of the Xbox Series X.

Official marketing material on the Series X website explains that the console will offer a standard 60 fps output with the architecture providing support for up to 120 fps. Xbox’s marketing GM, Aaron Greenberg, reiterated the point as recently as last week on Twitter .

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s glorious reveal trailer nearly two weeks ago feels like a long time ago now as Ubisoft as weathered a steady stream of controversies linked to the title.

Valhalla’s Inside Xbox gameplay trailer had no gameplay to speak of, and it emerged this week that Ubisoft is already concealing content behind a Season Pass paywall.

Whether what we are looking at here will become a common theme as we edge closer to the next-gen is unclear. But, as the first high-profile title to really sell the next-gen dream, Aassassin’s Creed Valhalla is falling flat at every turn so far.