Newly discovered The Division 2 easter egg points to Viking-themed next Assassin's Creed

An easter egg recently uncovered in Ubisoft's latest online shooter The Division 2 has ignited speculation that the next Assassin's Creed game may well have a Viking theme.

The easter egg in question can be found in The Division 2's Potomac Event Center, and keen-eyed visitors (as initially detailed by user AlifMorrisonudin on the Assassin's Creed Wiki) might notice a number of posters strewn around the walls, all sporting the titled Valhalla (from Norse mythology). That in itself isn't particularly unusual - but things get a little fishier when you take a closer look at the posters in question.

The image displays a Norse-like figure standing in profile, with a mysterious round object clutched tightly in their hand. After a spot of the old ENHANCE, it transpires that the object looks awfully similar to one of the powerful Apple of Eden artefacts at the centre of Assassin's Creed's history-spanning storyline. First, here's the poster:

And here's a closer look at the figure's orb, and a comparison with an actual Apple of Eden, as seen in Assassin's Creed Odyssey:

It's certainly a compelling theory, albeit far from conclusive (although it's worth noting that Kotaku says a Viking-themed next Assassin's Creed would match reports from two of its own trusted sources), and we might still have some time to wait before Ubisoft is ready to reveal more. The publisher previously confirmed that a new entry in the series wouldn't arrive until 2020, following the release of last year's excellent Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

Of course, Ubisoft has a bit of a history as far as teasing future releases in current games goes. Watch Dogs 2, for instance, offered a first look at space game Pioneer, which has seen something of a troubled development since then. More recently, the publisher updated the ending of Watch Dogs 2, adding in a new phone conversation labelled with real-world coordinates that pointed to Brixton, London - which many have speculated to be the setting of the next Watch Dogs game. So maybe that Norse figure does hold secrets, after all.