Valheim 1.0 Review: Still Brutal, Now Finished

After five and a half years in Early Access - it hit Steam on February 2, 2021 - Valheim is officially finished. Iron Gate's version 1.0 launched on September 9, 2026 with the Deep North, the last planned biome, and brings the game to PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2 for the first time, alongside PC (Windows, Mac, Linux) and Xbox. Coffee Stain Publishing is behind it. I've lost more evenings to this game than I'd like to admit, so the question isn't whether Valheim is good. It's whether 1.0 is the moment to jump in - at a higher price.

What it is

You're a slain Viking warrior dropped by the Valkyries into Valheim, the tenth Norse world, with orders to hunt down Odin's old enemies. In practice: chop trees, build a longhouse that doesn't leak, sail into the unknown and take down the Forsaken - bosses whose drops push you into the next tier of gear and the next biome. Up to ten players can share one world.

How it plays in 2026

The core loop hasn't changed, and it doesn't need to. Building is still the best in the genre: structural integrity makes you think like a carpenter, and a hall you raise with friends genuinely feels like yours. Combat is weighty and stamina-driven - block, dodge, parry - and a well-timed parry still feels fantastic. Sailing a longship through a storm at night remains one of the great moments in survival games.

The Deep North

Iron Gate clearly saved the best view for last. Snow-heavy pine forests, frozen coastline, ruined villages full of ghosts and an aurora that made me stop and just look. The new content builds smartly on what came before: Gammeltrolls turn to stone when they die, and the Bloodgold you need is locked inside their remains - you crack it with Ember Charges, not a pickaxe. The game barely tells you this, which is very Valheim. Moose can be tamed and ridden, two new dungeon types (Winding Tunnels and Gates of Mörkhalla) break up the exploration, and the Nord weapons from the new Frost Foundry are the strongest in the game. My favourite detail: you have to shovel away heavy snow before you can build. Scalewood pieces and steeper roofs finally let you raise a proper Nordic hall.

The problems

The Deep North sits at the end of a very long road, and that road still runs through the Mistlands - to me the worst-paced biome in the game, all fog, verticality and a material grind that pads out the hours. Iron Gate has kept nearly every bit of friction: ore still can't go through portals by default, and inventory juggling never stops. World modifiers let you soften combat, speed up resources or open portals to everything - use them without shame. Other reviewers have also reported occasional frame drops, especially in the new biome.

Then there's the money. The price jumped from $19.99 to $29.99 at launch; on Steam here it's now €29.99. Existing owners get 1.0 for free. Crossplay works across every platform, but there's no cross-save except between Xbox and the Microsoft Store PC version - your Steam character stays on Steam, and each platform is a separate purchase. And no, it isn't coming back to Game Pass; it left in 2024.

Who it's for

Groups of two to four friends with patience and a few free weekends. Solo works, but it's lonelier and grindier. If you want a survival game that respects your time above all else, this isn't it.

Verdict

Valheim 1.0 is the finished, confident version of one of the best survival games ever made, with a final biome that justifies the wait. It's also the same stubborn game from 2021, now more expensive, and the road to its best content is long and rough.

Score: 8/10

Image: TalkTuahLunchly / CC BY 4.0, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Viking_longship_from_The_Odyssey.jpg