Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: The Most Requested Update, a free update bringing several player-requested and quality-of-life features to the game, is live today on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro. The update has new content, a progression update, and more, including:
- New Game Plus
- 2 New Achievements
- Enhanced Progression Mode option
- New Power calculation
- Master Assassin Naoe outfit
- Upgraded PSSR optimizations
- Animus Hub synchronization update
The new PSSR update is exclusive to PlayStation 5 Pro players, giving them an even higher visual quality as they embark on or continue their Viking adventures in England. We spoke to Priscilla Nguyen, Engineering Studio Manager, to learn more about this update and why it’s essential for PlayStation 5 Pro players.
What can you tell us about the PSSR update for the PS5 Pro?
Priscilla Nguyen: It was about integrating the upgraded PSSR into the game, to have better graphics when upscaling at a better framerate. The upgraded PSSR is more efficient than the original, and easier to implement in the game
The upgraded PSSR is an enhanced version, and slightly more efficient than the game’s current Temporal Upscaler. More importantly, it’s much crisper and more visually stable, giving you seamless and stunning environments to explore in England.
Why bring these improvements to Assassin’s Creed Valhalla?
PN: At Ubisoft, it is important to remain at the forefront of technological innovation to ensure players continue to benefit from the best possible gaming experience, and as the upgraded PSSR was already successfully integrated into our latest releases, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced and Assassin’s Creed Shadows, we thought it would be great to have in Valhalla too. The Assassin’s Creed Valhalla update presented an excellent opportunity to integrate the upgraded PSSR, delivering a noticeably sharper and more visually refined image quality in 4K and smoothness with 60FPS.
One of the aspects players appreciated most about Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was the beauty and visual variety of its open world, from the snowy mountains of Norway to the flourishing meadows, robust forests, and frigid highlands of England. Now, with the new PSSR optimizations, those graphics have been enhanced and preserved to meet today’s technical standards and continue to deliver a high-quality, smooth visual experience for our players.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla came out a few years before the PS5 Pro. Were there any challenges updating the visuals for PSSR?
PN: We didn’t need to overhaul the game’s content or visual assets. Instead, we leveraged the upgraded PSSR within our engine and rendering pipeline to enhance 4K image quality and deliver our Quality mode at 60FPS on PS5 Pro.
The interesting challenge was finding the right balance between image quality, performance, and integration within an existing game that was originally built years before the PS5 Pro existed. The upgraded PSSR proved to be a very efficient solution, allowing us to maximize the new hardware’s capabilities while delivering a noticeable visual uplift and stronger performance without requiring extensive changes to the game’s content, making it an effective way to modernize the experience for PS5 Pro players.
