Valheim Leaves Early Access After Five Years This September as 1.0 Brings a New Biome and Adds PS5 and Switch 2 Versions

Jun 8, 2026 at 01:40pm EDT
Two characters in medieval attire crouch inside a snowy wooden building, with one holding a torch and both surrounded by lurking goblin-like creatures.

Early access survival game Valheim, from developer Iron Gate and publisher Coffee Stain Publishing will finally launch out of early access later this year, with a 1.0 release date officially set for September 9, 2026. After its early access launch back in 2021, this 1.0 release marks the end of five years of early access.

The studio announced the release date during the PC Gaming Show as part of Summer Game Fest 2026, which will also now arrive on PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2, the last two major platforms (save for mobile) the game had not yet been released on.

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Full cross-play will be supported across every platform, so PlayStation and Nintendo players who may have wanted to join their friends on PC and Xbox will have no issue doing so. The arrival of 1.0 will also add "new enemies to kill, bases to build, and weapons to craft," the studio wrote in a post on the game's Steam page as part of its new biome, the Deep North.

"When we set out on this journey back in 2021, we could hardly imagine the amount of players that would dive in, and the size of the community that would form around the game," said Iron Gate's creative director, Robin Eyre, in a press release. "Approaching 1.0 feels equal parts exciting and anxious as we’ve worked hard to make Deep North a worthy conclusion to the Valheim journey!"

The new biome will challenge players with its freezing conditions, as a massive snowstorm welcomes players when they take their first steps in the Deep North. You'll soon learn there's more to this biome than what you can (or can't on account of the snowstorm) see, as a deep underground network of tunnels is waiting for players to explore.

About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.

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