WINCHESTER City Council is backing efforts to capitalise on the city’s link with the best-selling video game Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

The Chronicle has reported how Hampshire Cultural Trust is working with the game’s creators for an educational spin-off. The game is set in Winchester and players can also explore the city’s history.

The city council hopes this will give a boost to tourism and it has agreed to give £75,000 to the trust towards its Anglo-Saxon Experience which will open in late 2022. It will give an interactive insight into Anglo-Saxon Winchester.

Cllr Martin Tod, portfolio holder for economic recovery, told the Cabinet: “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is the best-selling game in the world. Gaming is bigger than the movie industry. Winchester plays a central role within it. King Alfred plays a central role.

“Around the world millions of people have been made aware of Winchester and our heritage. Having a way for them to put Winchester on their itinerary has enormous potential for the visitor economy and our High Street.”

Cllr Lynda Murphy told Cabinet that tourists visiting London could be tempted to visit: “Lots of teenagers and young people will say ‘let’s visit Winchester’. The £75,000 is a good investment four our city.”

The HCT is looking to develop a visitor attraction based on the city’s Anglo-Saxon heritage when it was the capital first of Wessex and later England. For some 10 years the English Project has aimed to showcase the development of the English language with the first-ever museum dedicated to the subject.