Platforms and System Requirements

0:03 Valheim runs on Windows, Linux and macOS through Steam, on Windows through the Microsoft Store, on macOS through the Mac App Store, on all three through the Humble Store, and on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2. The list was completed on Sep 9, 2026, when the Valheim 1.0 Release brought the same build to every platform at once, including the two new consoles (Iron Gate 1.0 FAQ). Every version can play together; how that works is covered on Cross-Play.

Quick facts

Release history by platform

0:44 For its first eighteen months Valheim was a PC-only Steam game. The Microsoft Store and PC Game Pass versions followed in September 2022 and laid the groundwork for cross-play, the Xbox consoles arrived in March 2023 with a day-one Game Pass release, and the PlayStation 5 and Switch 2 versions closed the gap at 1.0. The Xbox version launched in Game Preview, the console equivalent of Steam Early Access, and stayed there until 1.0 (Wikipedia; NME).

Sources for the table: Wikipedia, NME, Engadget, Iron Gate Switch 2 announcement, Iron Gate 1.0 FAQ.

0:53 The 1.0 build went live everywhere at the same moment, 15:00 CEST on Wednesday, Sep 9, 2026 (6 AM PDT, 9 AM EDT), and there was no public-test branch beforehand, so PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Switch 2 players all met the Deep North on the same day (Iron Gate, "Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!"; Game Rant).

Price

0:36 Valheim cost $19.99 throughout Early Access. With 1.0 the price rose to $29.99 on every storefront, a change Iron Gate Studio announced in its 1.0 FAQ in July 2026 and PC Gamer reported as a 50% increase; anyone who already owned the game on PC or Xbox received 1.0 as a free update (Iron Gate 1.0 FAQ; PC Gamer). On Sep 11, 2026 the Steam price was $29.99, £23.49, €29.99 or ¥3,400 depending on region.

Porting partners

Iron Gate is a small studio, and every console version has been built with an outside porting house. The Xbox versions were handled by Piktiv and Fishlabs (Wikipedia). Piktiv, a Swedish studio, returned for the PlayStation 5 port so that Iron Gate could keep working on the Deep North (Engadget), and Iron Gate credited the same partner with making sure Valheim "runs in the best way possible" on Switch 2 (Iron Gate). The game is published by Coffee Stain Publishing; see Development History for how the studio grew.

PC, Mac and Linux requirements

The Steam listing carries separate requirements for each desktop operating system. The Windows and Linux builds share the same graphics-card targets; the Mac build is tuned for Apple Silicon and lists an M1 as its recommended chip (Steam store page; Steam appdetails API).

The storage lines on the listing have not kept pace with the game: Iron Gate puts the 1.0 download at roughly 4.3 GiB on most platforms (see below). A broadband connection is listed only as a recommendation, because single-player and locally hosted games work offline.

4:25 The PC build also exposes graphics options that the console versions do not. The vegetation-quality slider is a well-known example: turning it right down makes branches and flint easier to spot in the first minutes of a new world, but console players are held to the default.

Download sizes

Iron Gate published the size of the 1.0 download in its FAQ. The figure differs by storefront because the Microsoft Store and Mac App Store packages are built differently from the Steam and console ones (Iron Gate 1.0 FAQ; AllThings.how).

Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S

27:47 Where the PC build runs uncapped, the Series consoles offer fixed modes. Iron Gate's Jonathan Smårs explained at the Xbox launch that Series X|S have a Quality mode at 4K and 30 fps and a Performance mode at 1080p and 60 fps, with a 40 fps Balanced mode for 120 Hz televisions to follow; the Series S uses the same modes at a lower resolution, and he recommended Performance.

29:49 The older Xbox One S and One X run at 30 fps at 720p or 1080p, and supporting them sets the memory ceiling the whole game has to fit inside. Reviewers still advise the Series consoles or the newer platforms over an Xbox One.

Mouse and keyboard were not officially supported on Xbox at the 2023 launch; the keyboard worked for text entry only. The Xbox versions are the only ones with cross-progression: a save made on Xbox can be opened on a Windows PC provided the game was bought from the Microsoft Store or is played through PC Game Pass (Iron Gate 1.0 FAQ).

PlayStation 5

0:11 The Forsaken The PlayStation 5 version was announced on Sep 16, 2025 with a trailer narrated by Neil Newbon in the voice of the Forsaken, promising "full crossplay with all other platforms" and naming Piktiv as the porting studio (Engadget; Gematsu). The exact date came with the June 2026 release-date reveal, and the game launched on the PlayStation Store at $29.99 on Sep 9, 2026.

1:39 Like the Series X, the PS5 build offers three modes that can be switched in-game: Quality, Performance with a 60 fps target, and Balanced, which targets about 40 fps on 120 Hz displays. On a base PS5 the Performance mode holds close to 60 fps in early play without noticeable stutter, and the difference in image quality is small because of the game's deliberately low-resolution art.

3:31 The PS5 version ships with three controller layouts but no button remapping, a single camera-sensitivity value for both axes, and full mouse-and-keyboard support. Console owners need the usual online subscription (PlayStation Plus, Xbox Live or Nintendo Switch Online) for online multiplayer, but single-player and locally hosted worlds do not require it.

Patches since launch have fixed problems of the PS5 version's own. Patch 1.0.14 of Sep 17, 2026 made the Stronger Together trophy achievable and stopped the Balanced preset from switching the TV from 120 Hz to 60 Hz in the home menu, which had blacked out the screen; 1.0.16 made turning motion controls on reliable; and 1.0.17 reset an invalid Shield of Roots style that had been available on PS5 in 1.0.15 (Iron Gate, Patch 1.0.14; Iron Gate, Patch 1.0.17). Since 1.0.14 the PS5, like every platform but Steam, has received each patch a few days after Steam (Patches Since 1.0).

Nintendo Switch 2

4:27 Iron Gate announced the Switch 2 version on Feb 5, 2026, straight after a Nintendo Direct, with four hardware-specific features: a mouse mode, touch-screen support for menus, HD Rumble 2 vibration and gyroscope aiming (Iron Gate). In play the gyro is toggled with the left trigger and the Joy-Con mouse engages as soon as the controller is placed on its side; both are practical rather than gimmicks.

5:45 The Switch 2 build has the same three presets as the other consoles (Quality at 30 fps, Balanced at 40 fps and Performance at 60 fps) and supports TV, tabletop and handheld play. Stepping down from Quality lowers texture detail and draw distance and increases pop-in, but the handheld screen hides most of that (GoNintendo).

7:30 At launch the Performance preset stuttered when docked, especially in storms, while Quality held a steady 30. Iron Gate said on launch day that the cause was "a combination of world gen lag and the game not quite reaching 60 fps in many scenarios", recommended Balanced or Quality for a consistent frame rate, noted that handheld Performance benefits from the screen's variable refresh rate (docked play has none), and promised to "continue optimizing the Switch 2 version after launch" (GoNintendo).

Reviews of the port were mixed. Pocket Tactics found on Sep 11 that it ran fine, with a smooth 60 fps mode that is less detailed than the PC version; Nintendo Life gave it 8/10 on Sep 18 but wrote that performance issues and uneven cross-play spoiled the launch; and Siliconera's Jenni Lada, playing version 1.0.10, saw dips below 20 fps in the Black Forest and Swamp, stutter in every mode while traveling and fighting, disconnects when joining other players' servers and small text that was hard to read, and on Oct 3 advised waiting a few weeks (Pocket Tactics; Nintendo Life; Siliconera). Since 1.0.14 the fixes have reached Switch 2 a few days after Steam. Patch 1.0.14 brought "multiple GPU performance improvements on Switch 2" and fixed a black screen when the TV output dropped from 120 Hz to 60 Hz around the virtual keyboard and the home menu; 1.0.16 made motion controls switch on reliably and removed banding on textures very close to the camera (Iron Gate, Patch 1.0.14; Iron Gate, Patch 1.0.16; Patches Since 1.0).

Steam Deck

0:14 Valheim is Steam Deck Verified, and the fifth-anniversary patch 0.221.10 of Feb 2, 2026 was largely a Deck patch: the graphics presets were rebuilt so that the Performance preset reaches 60 fps, the presets were tuned for battery life, the game started using the Deck's native resolution on first launch instead of 1366×768, and the Render Scale slider was replaced by a 3D Resolution Limit dropdown with fixed targets. The same patch moved the game to Unity 6000.0.61f1 (GamingOnLinux; Steam Deck HQ; patch notes via Patched).

At 1.0 the Performance preset renders internally at 600p and mostly holds 60 fps on the Deck, with dips during world loading and autosaves; raising the 3D resolution limit to the panel's 800p costs little in a solo world. Large bases and busy servers pull the frame rate down on any platform, and the Deck is no exception.

Draw distance and the 1.0 engine upgrade

12:06 Version 1.0 added a draw-distance setting to the graphics tab, defaulting to "Classic". It can be pushed well beyond the previous maximum on a strong PC, or pulled down so that less of the world is simulated at once, which helps in areas crowded with large builds (Iron Gate, "Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!"). The same release carried a second Unity engine upgrade, chunked world saving that is noticeably faster, and fewer micro-stutters when crossing zone boundaries; the full list is on Deep North Update (1.0 Patch Notes).

Saves, servers and mods across platforms

Old worlds from any platform continue to work in 1.0, although new terrain only generates in unexplored areas, so Iron Gate recommends a fresh world for the Deep North (Iron Gate 1.0 FAQ). A PC is the only platform that can host a Dedicated Servers process, so mixed groups usually keep at least one PC player; consoles join as clients. Mods are PC-only and unofficial, and a modded server cannot be joined from a console, so servers that want console players stay vanilla; see Console Commands, Cheats and Mods.

Frequently asked questions

What are Valheim's PC system requirements? The Steam listing asks for Windows 10 64-bit, a 2.6 GHz quad core, 8 GB of RAM and a GeForce GTX 950 or Radeon HD 7970 with DirectX 11, and recommends a Core i5 or Ryzen 5 at 3 GHz, 16 GB of RAM and a GTX 1060 or RX 580. The Linux build shares those graphics targets; the Mac build lists an Apple M1 as its recommended chip.

Is Valheim on PS5 and Switch 2? Yes. Both versions launched with 1.0 on Sep 9, 2026 and were ported by Piktiv, the Swedish studio that also worked on the Xbox versions.

How much does Valheim cost? $29.99 since 1.0, a rise from the $19.99 it cost throughout early access. Anyone who already owned it on PC or Xbox received 1.0 as a free update.

Can Valheim players on different platforms play together? Yes, every version can play together; see Cross-Play. Cross-progression is narrower: only the Xbox versions share saves with a Windows PC, and only when the game was bought from the Microsoft Store or played through PC Game Pass.

How does Valheim run on Switch 2? It offers Quality (30 fps), Balanced (40 fps) and Performance (60 fps) presets. Early reviews found stutter and frame-rate dips, especially docked in Performance mode and in busy biomes, and Iron Gate has been patching it since; patch 1.0.14 of Sep 17, 2026 brought several Switch 2 GPU improvements.

Can consoles use mods or host a server? No. Mods are PC-only and unofficial, a modded server cannot be joined from a console, and only a PC can run a dedicated server, so mixed groups usually keep at least one PC player.

Sources

• Valheim 1.0 FAQ, Iron Gate Studio
• Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!, Iron Gate Studio
• Valheim Is Coming to Switch 2!, Iron Gate Studio
• Valheim Has A Release Date!, Iron Gate Studio
• Valheim on Steam and Steam appdetails API, Valve
• Valheim, Wikipedia
• Valheim patch adds full cross-play support ahead of Game Pass debut, NME
• Viking survival sim Valheim will finally come to the PS5 in 2026, Engadget
• Valheim coming to PS5 in 2026, Gematsu
• Valheim will get a 50% price hike when it hits 1.0, and no changes to the ocean biome, PC Gamer
• Valheim gets a big birthday update with optimizations, Steam Deck upgrades and new content, GamingOnLinux
• Valheim Gets 60 FPS Performance Mode With 5th Anniversary Patch, Steam Deck HQ
• Valheim Patch 0.221.10 (5th Anniversary & Unity 6 Upgrade) Patched
• Patch 1.0.14, Patch 1.0.16 and Patch 1.0.17, Iron Gate Studio, Sep 17 to Oct 6, 2026
• Valheim Switch 2 review, Pocket Tactics, Sep 11, 2026
• Valheim review (Switch 2), Nintendo Life, Sep 18, 2026
• Valheim Doesn't Feel Ideal Just Yet on Switch 2, Siliconera, Oct 3, 2026
• Valheim dev addresses stuttering issues on Switch 2, pledges continued optimization, GoNintendo
• Valheim 1.0 Deep North release date and time, Game Rant
• Valheim 1.0 release: Deep North, new platforms and old saves, AllThings.how