Popular Survival Game Officially Leaving Early Access After Over 5 Years

Iron Gate Studio has confirmed that its popular survival game Valheim is set to leave early access on September 9, 2026. The developer first released Valheim back in February 2021, so it will have been well over five years by the time the game exits its early access period later this year.

Since its initial launch in 2021, Valheim has become one of the most popular survival games on the market. Developer Iron Gate Studio has made great use of its early access period to massively improve the game, with regular updates bringing new content to Valheim. Despite its age, the game has managed to maintain a very healthy player count since its release, which can be attributed to both the regular updates and its excellent gameplay loop.

Valheim Player Creates Incredible Black Marble Pyramid Base

A Valheim player creates an incredible black marble pyramid base that points to the world tree Yggdrasil from a clearing in the Meadows biome.

Valheim is Leaving Early Access on September 9, 2026

Developer Iron Gate Studio revealed Valheim‘s 1.0 release date in a post on X, confirming the game is leaving early access on September 9 alongside a new release date trailer. This will see the survival game fully released on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S – the platforms where it is already playable – as well as on PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2 for the first time. Valheim‘s launch on new platforms has been known for a few months now, so it’s good to see this finally come to fruition. There will be crossplay across all platforms, allowing players to enjoy the game with friends regardless of where they’re playing.

The 1.0 release will finally see the launch of Valheim‘s long-awaited Deep North content. This is expected to be the last major biome for the game, having been teased for a very long time now. Iron Gate Studio has yet to comment on what exactly the update will entail, but given how long it has been in development for and the major 1.0 milestone, players can expect it to be a significant content drop. On the game’s Steam page, the developer claims that Valheim will increase in price upon hitting 1.0, but it’s unclear exactly how much the game will cost on release.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)

News of Valheim‘s launch doesn’t come as a major surprise, with the developer claiming just last month that the game was “entering the final stages of development.” Still, it’s nice to finally have a date locked in, so that players know when to expect the next major update for the game.

As one of the most successful survival games right now, there is no shortage of games like Valheim that offer a similar experience to Iron Gate Studio’s title. However, there’s a reason that players are choosing to stick around with Valheim after over five years, and hopefully, the 1.0 release can live up to expectations.