Valheim 1.0 Brings Deep North and Ends Five-Year Early Access Run

After more than five years in Early Access, Valheim is set to reach version 1.0 on September 9 with the Deep North, the final biome Iron Gate planned for the game's full release.

The milestone also brings Valheim to PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2, with full crossplay across the expanded platform lineup. Existing players can keep their current characters and worlds, although anyone heading straight for the Deep North may need unexplored territory to see the biome as intended.

Iron Gate has spent Valheim's Early Access period expanding the survival game biome by biome, with Mistlands and Ashlands among the major additions released after its February 2021 debut.

Deep North is the last of the three additional biomes Iron Gate originally said would be part of the complete game. Version 1.0 turns the frozen region at the edge of the world into a finished area with new enemies, equipment, building options, and resources to discover.

Iron Gate plans to continue supporting Valheim with bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements after 1.0, although future major content has not been confirmed.

Players who have spent years building settlements do not need to start over when version 1.0 arrives. Existing characters and world saves will remain available after the update.

World generation creates one important limitation. New terrain and biome content can only generate properly in areas that have not already been explored, so worlds where players have travelled extensively through the far north may not produce the full Deep North experience in those locations.

Iron Gate recommends starting a fresh world for 1.0, but it is not required. Players can also take an existing character directly toward unexplored parts of Deep North if they want to continue their current playthrough.

Achievements are arriving with 1.0, but tracking only begins once the new version is installed. Previous accomplishments will not unlock achievements retroactively.

Version 1.0 also marks Valheim's debut on PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2. Both versions support full crossplay with the existing PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S releases, keeping the same one-to-10-player multiplayer structure across platforms.

Existing Early Access owners will have their current copy updated to version 1.0 without needing to repurchase it.