Ubisoft’s upcoming Viking-themed title Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was revealed only recently, but the idea of Assassin’s Creed traveling down the Old Norse road wasn’t entirely unknown beforehand. Leading the way of various rumors and leaks was the discovery of an easter egg in fellow Ubisoft series The Division 2, with an in-game poster depicting what appeared to be a reference to the yet-unannounced game. However, it looks like this apparent tease wasn’t actually a tease at all.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla narrative director Darby McDevitt revealed this news in a recent interview with Stevivor, saying the image found in The Division 2 was “a complete coincidence” and wasn’t actually meant to tease anything. “You know what’s crazy about that? That was a complete coincidence,” McDevitt explained. “It’s just because The Division is made in Sweden, and they just wanted to put some stuff in there. Whoever the artist was, they just wanted to put in some of their Nordic culture. It had nothing to do with us.”

This reveal is a pretty surprising one, as this particular easter egg was one of the most enduring references that Vikings would be in the next Assassin’s Creed. Following the reveal of the new game, the de-confirmed easter egg seems especially spot-on. Not only does the word “Valhalla” display prominently on the poster, but it also depicts a Viking-era Saxon wielding the series’ long-standing McGuffin – the Apple of Eden. On top of that, Ubisoft has teased on several occasions that all of its biggest franchises may in-fact take place in the same universe.

While all signs would appear to suggest otherwise, McDevitt explained there was no way this reference could have been made back in early 2019, as Ubisoft Montreal was still finalizing the game’s title at that particular time. Furthermore, the narrative director teased the game’s events will ultimately have “nothing to do with the poster” featured in The Division 2. “I don’t even think this game had a name at the time,” McDevitt said. “We always work with a codename, and we always have a few ideas for names. We decide on one eventually, but that was very, very funny. The image that’s in the poster has nothing to do with our game.”

Once you play Valhalla, our game, you’ll see that there’s nothing to do with the poster that was in The Division 2.”

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is set to release in Holiday 2020 as launch titles for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X alongside Google Stadia, PC (via Epic Games Store and Uplay), PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

What do you think? Are you surprised that this Division 2 easter egg wasn’t legitimate, or is the reference too perfect to be pure coincidence? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to follow Don’t Feed the Gamers on Twitter and Facebook to be informed of the latest gaming and entertainment news 24 hours a day! For more headlines recently featured on DFTG, check out these next few news stories:

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