Five Years in Early Access Were Not in Vain: Valheim Receives High Ratings

After the release of version 1.0, Valheim attracted over 160 thousand concurrent players and received an average rating of 89% on Metacritic, becoming one of the highest-rated major releases of 2026.

Iron Gate's game spent over five years in early access: the release took place in February 2021, and the peak online concurrent players on Steam exceeded 500 thousand people. Now the full version has once again generated significant interest.

Reviewers particularly praise the world's atmosphere, freedom of exploration, character development, and the combination of survival with building, combat, and biome exploration. The new snowy region, Deep North, received high marks for its beauty and challenge.

Version 1.0 added new enemies and locations, over 40 types of weapons, four armor sets, more than 80 building elements, and over 10 creatures, including a tameable moose. A grappling hook, snow shovel, new events, and achievements were also introduced, along with updated graphics, interface, and reworked systems.

Despite issues with grinding, outdated mechanics, and technical errors, even after five years, Valheim 1.0 has become one of the biggest surprises of 2026.