Valheim 1.0 Release

1:16 Valheim 1.0 is the full release of Iron Gate's Viking survival game, published on Wednesday, Sep 9, 2026 at 6 AM PDT / 15:00 CEST. It ended an early-access period that began on Feb 2, 2021 (about five years and seven months) and shipped as one build on every platform at once, adding the Deep North biome, the final boss Kall Fimbulbringer and, for the first time, an ending (Iron Gate: "Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!"). The content itself is catalogued on Deep North Update (1.0 Patch Notes); this page covers the launch as an event.

0:00 Launch trailer

Quick facts

Announcement

1:23 The release date was revealed on Jun 7, 2026 with the "Valheim: 1.0 & Deep North – Release Date Reveal Trailer", which closes on a card reading "September 9 2026" above the logos of every launch platform, and a matching news post, "Valheim Has A Release Date!" (Iron Gate, Jun 7, 2026). The post promised full cross-play between all platforms and confirmed PC, Linux, Mac, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2 as launch platforms. The PlayStation 5 version had been announced on Sep 16, 2025 and the Switch 2 version on Feb 5, 2026 during a Nintendo Direct (Engadget; Iron Gate: "Valheim is coming to Switch 2!").

6:23 Two days before launch, Iron Gate published "(Y)OUR JOURNEY", a nine-minute retrospective in which founder Richard Svensson, art director Robin Eyre and other staff describe the mixed feelings of finishing after five years ("both exciting and scary") and players recount what the game meant to them. Iron Gate ran no public-test branch for 1.0, unlike every major update since 2021, so that everyone would meet the Deep North at the same time (Valheim 1.0 FAQ). More on the studio is on Iron Gate Studio and Development History.

Release day

0:53 The update went live simultaneously worldwide at 15:00 Central European Summer Time on Sep 9, 2026 (6 AM in Los Angeles, 9 AM in New York, 2 PM in London and 11 PM in Sydney) as a roughly 4.3 GB download on most platforms (about 3.0 GB on Xbox One and 6.5 GB on the Mac App Store and Microsoft Store) (Game Rant; 1.0 FAQ). Iron Gate's own notes call the build simply "1.0"; the previous live version was 0.221.12 from February 2026.

1:54 Existing worlds continue to work, but the new terrain (the Deep North's content, the alternate edge biomes and the Forge of Potential) only generates in areas not yet explored, so Iron Gate recommends starting a fresh world (1.0 FAQ). Steam achievements (53 of them) began tracking only once 1.0 was installed; past deeds do not count, and using console commands marks a save as cheated (Console Commands, Cheats and Mods).

Price

0:49 The price rose from $19.99 to $29.99 at 1.0, a 50% increase that Iron Gate had announced in advance; anyone who already owned the game on PC or Xbox received the update free (1.0 FAQ; PC Gamer). On Steam on Sep 11, 2026 the price was $29.99, £23.49, €29.99 and ¥3,400 (Steam store API).

Platforms and cross-play

0:03 Valheim 1.0 launched on Steam (Windows, Linux, macOS), the Microsoft Store, the Mac App Store, Humble, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2, with full cross-play between all of them. The PS5 and Switch 2 ports were made by Piktiv, the Swedish studio that had also handled the 2023 Xbox version, so that Iron Gate's own team could stay on the Deep North (Engadget; Iron Gate). Details are on Platforms and System Requirements and Cross-Play.

0:11 The PlayStation announcement was fronted by a trailer, "The Forsaken", in which actor Neil Newbon voices the bosses taunting the player. Cross-progression is narrower than cross-play: saves move only between Xbox and the Microsoft Store version on PC. Character files can still be copied by hand on PC, and any player can carry a character between worlds and servers (1.0 FAQ).

Player numbers

Interest at launch was strong but well short of the 2021 phenomenon. SteamDB recorded 115,362 concurrent Steam players within hours of release, up from about 19,000 the day before (Beebom); other outlets reported peaks of 125,000 to 160,000 over the launch window, the highest since April 2021 (GamingProMax). By Sep 11 SteamCharts showed a higher launch peak still: 190,713 concurrent Steam players in the preceding 24 hours (SteamCharts). Iron Gate said the game had passed 17 million copies sold by the June 2026 announcement (Tech Times).

The launch days turned out to be only the start. On the first weekend after release SteamDB recorded 308,477 concurrent Steam players, as Addicting Games reported on Sep 15, 2026 (Addicting Games); SteamCharts lists 307,757 as the September peak. By SteamCharts' monthly peaks that is the most since March 2021, behind only the first two months of early access. A month on, the game still drew several times its pre-launch audience: on Oct 10, 2026 SteamCharts showed a 24-hour peak of 151,947 and an average of 134,521 players over the previous 30 days, against 15,759 in August (SteamCharts). None of these figures include PS5, Switch 2 or Xbox players. The all-time Steam record remains 502,387, set in February 2021. Longer-run figures are on Reception and Sales.

Critical reception

0:01 Reviews of the 1.0 build were published from Sep 8, 2026, the day before release. IGN awarded 10/10, calling Valheim the best the survival-crafting genre has ever been, and PC Gamer gave it 90/100 (IGN video review; PC Gamer). Praise centered on the Deep North's atmosphere and the sense of a complete journey; criticism on the grind of gathering and building, the tedium of the Mistlands on the way north, and poorly signposted mechanics such as blowing up petrified Gammeltrolls for Bloodgold (PCGamesN).

13:50 On aggregate, Metacritic listed a score of 89 from 14 PC reviews in the first days and OpenCritic an average of 88 with 88% of 23 critics recommending the game. As later reviews came in, the figures settled by Oct 10, 2026 at 89 from 24 PC reviews on Metacritic and a top-critic average of 91 on OpenCritic, with 95% of its 21 critics recommending the game (Metacritic; OpenCritic). The later reviews included a 5/5 from Giant Bomb, which called Valheim the best multiplayer survival-crafting game since Minecraft, and Nintendo Life's 8/10 for the Switch 2 version, which praised the world but found performance problems and uneven cross-play (Giant Bomb; Nintendo Life). Notable scores:

The ending

38:44 For the first time the game can be finished. Defeating Kall Fimbulbringer in the Deep North drops two items: the Crown Jewel, which crafts the Crown of Valheim, and Sacrificial Blood, which takes the place of a boss trophy. Carried back to the Sacrificial Stones at the spawn point and placed in the bowl at their center, the blood summons Munin and Hugin and starts the closing sequence (Game8).

0:03 The ending cinematic, narrated in the style of the intro, shows the blood rippling through the World Tree to Odin, who sees Valheim rejoining Yggdrasil and the Viking carried by a Valkyrie one last time to Valhalla; the credits follow. Play continues afterwards, and the crown's "Royalty" effect stops creatures attacking, turning the world into a peaceful sandbox for builders. Iron Gate's Robin Eyre said the moment "made me feel very nostalgic for the whole journey and I started to cry" (7:34 (Y)OUR JOURNEY). Story context is on Lore and Setting.

What comes next

3:34 Asked in June 2025 whether DLC or new realms would follow the Deep North, Iron Gate's developers said they were focused entirely on the Deep North and the combat update and would look at the options only once 1.0 was done. In the 1.0 FAQ Iron Gate committed to bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements for an undetermined period and said nothing further about content; the Ocean received no update at 1.0 (1.0 FAQ; PC Gamer).

8:22 In an interview published on Sep 6, 2026, Eyre and Tomasson ruled out a Valheim 2, saying players "really, really want more content for Valheim" rather than a sequel, while leaving open adjacent titles in the same universe (PCGamesN). Iron Gate's retrospective ends on the same note: the end of the early-access journey "but the start of the next book". On Sep 11, 2026 Iron Gate released the first post-launch fixes: patch 1.0.10 for every platform, and 1.0.12, which reached Steam first (Hotfix 1.0.10 & 1.0.12). Four more patches followed by Oct 6, all fixes and small changes, which Patches Since 1.0 lists. On Sep 30 Iron Gate wrote that there are "more content updates coming", without saying what they will be, and that its developer posts would no longer be monthly (Iron Gate, Word from the Devs: What a Month!).

Readers usually want two of 1.0's additions explained further: the gamble of the Forge of Potential with Battle and Protection Idols, and the four new staves on Magic and Staves and Mage Build Guide.

Frequently asked questions

When did Valheim 1.0 come out? On Wednesday, Sep 9, 2026, at 6 AM PDT and 15:00 CEST, on every platform at once: 9 AM in New York, 2 PM in London and 11 PM in Sydney. The download was about 4.3 GB on most platforms.

Is Valheim 1.0 a free update? Yes for anyone who already owned the game on PC or Xbox. For new buyers the price rose from $19.99 to $29.99, a 50% increase Iron Gate had announced in advance.

Do you need a new world for Valheim 1.0? Existing worlds keep working, but the Deep North's content, the alternate edge biomes and the Forge of Potential generate only in areas not yet explored, so Iron Gate recommends starting a fresh one. Steam's 53 achievements also begin tracking only once 1.0 is installed.

Does Valheim have an ending? Yes, for the first time. Defeating Kall Fimbulbringer drops Sacrificial Blood, which is carried to the bowl at the center of the Sacrificial Stones; it summons Munin and Hugin and starts the closing cinematic and credits. Play continues afterwards.

Does Valheim 1.0 have cross-play? Yes, full cross-play between Steam, the Microsoft Store, the Mac App Store, Humble, Xbox, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2. Cross-progression is narrower: saves move only between Xbox and the Microsoft Store version on PC.

Is Valheim still being updated after 1.0? Yes. Iron Gate released six patches of fixes and small changes between Sep 11 and Oct 6, 2026, and on Sep 30 said more content updates are coming, without saying what; see Patches Since 1.0.

Sources

• Valheim, Steam Charts, SteamCharts, read Sep 11 and Oct 10, 2026
• Valheim Just Hit Its Second-Highest Player Count, Addicting Games, Sep 15, 2026
• Word from the Devs: What a Month!, Iron Gate Studio, Sep 30, 2026
• Hotfix 1.0.10 & 1.0.12, Iron Gate Studio, Sep 11, 2026
• Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!, Iron Gate Studio, Sep 9, 2026
• Valheim Has A Release Date!, Iron Gate Studio, Jun 7, 2026
• Valheim is coming to Switch 2!, Iron Gate Studio, Feb 5, 2026
• Valheim 1.0 FAQ, Iron Gate Studio
• Valheim 1.0 Release Time, Game Rant
• Valheim will get a 50% price hike when it hits 1.0, and no changes to the ocean biome, PC Gamer
• Valheim 1.0 review, PC Gamer, Sep 8, 2026
• Valheim 1.0 review, PCGamesN, Sep 8, 2026
• Valheim 1.0 Review, Screen Rant, Sep 8, 2026
• Iron Gate on a Valheim sequel, PCGamesN, Sep 6, 2026
• Valheim on OpenCritic, OpenCritic, read Oct 10, 2026
• Valheim on Metacritic, Metacritic, read Oct 10, 2026
• Valheim Review, Giant Bomb, Sep 22, 2026
• Valheim review (Switch 2), Nintendo Life, Sep 18, 2026
• Valheim Review: An Epic Norse Survival Adventure, Hardcore Gamer, Sep 9, 2026
• Valheim review: Worth the wait, Shacknews, Sep 29, 2026
• Valheim 1.0 Crosses 100K Players Within Hours of Launch, Beebom, Sep 10, 2026
• Valheim 1.0 Steam Player Count Hits 5-Year High, GamingProMax, Sep 10, 2026
• Valheim 1.0 Launches September 9 With Free Update and Deep North for 17 Million Owners, Tech Times, Sep 7, 2026
• Viking survival sim Valheim will finally come to the PS5 in 2026, Engadget, Sep 16, 2025
• Valheim 1.0 ending guide, Game8
• Valheim on Steam (store API), Valve
• Valheim: 1.0 Out Now, Iron Gate, YouTube, Sep 9, 2026
• Valheim: (Y)OUR JOURNEY, Iron Gate, YouTube, Sep 7, 2026
• Valheim Review, IGN, YouTube, Sep 8, 2026