Summary
Valheimhas been in early access since 2021 on PC, and 2023 on Xbox consoles. The Steam store page forValheimclaims that there will beongoing development forValheimuntil January 2025 at the very least. While there is currently no confirmed release date forValheim, it’s fair to expect the game to finish its early access period sometime in 2025 in light of this information.
Valheim’s Steam page also claims that all the core mechanics and foundational changes planned forValheimhave already been implemented. The remaining changes are said to be mostly minor content updates, balancing patches, and bug fixes. With this in mind, gamers who are already interested inValheimshould consider whether they want to play the game in its current state or wait until its full release.
The Pros and Cons of Playing Valheim in Early Access
Pros
One of the biggest reasons why players may want to playValheimduring its early access is to pre-test upcoming updates to provide feedback that will help shape the game’s ongoing development. This is currently available to anyone who owns the game on PC through Steam.
Another benefit to playing the game in its early access state is that there are already plenty of unofficial communitymods available forValheimon PC. Considering that there will allegedly be no more major overhauls or core mechanics being added toValheim, players who aren’t fully satisfied with the current state of the game can generally use mods to address this. However, this is a luxury that only PC players have, at least for the time being.
WhetherValheimwill offer integrated mod support for console players in the future is uncertain.
Cons
Some of the largest changes fromValheim’s content updatesthroughout early access have been focused on redesigning biomes. This has been great considering that some of these biomes felt rather unfinished before getting updated. However, there is a negative side effect to these kinds of updates.
The main downside toValheim’s focus on updating biomes in the game is that players often have to start a new world or reset their multiplayer server to experience the newest content fully. Even though players can carry their character and inventory inValheimover to separate worlds, starting a new world means that players will have to abandon any structures they have built and start their new base from scratch. WhileValheim’s building mechanicsare relatively enjoyable, building a new base for every update can be quite time-consuming in hindsight. Consequently, players who want to avoid the cycle of frequently restarting might want to wait for the game’s full release to play.
Another factor that might influence players to hold off on playingValheimuntil its full release is the decrease in multiplayer activity. WhileValheim’s online multiplayeris fully functional for both public and private servers, the game is currently experiencing a significantly low player count, according to Steam Charts.
WhileValheim’s peak player count from the past 30 days is still arguably high, it’s nowhere near the height of the game’s popularity from when it first launched in early access. It’s also worth noting that these metrics only reflectValheim’s player count on Steam, not including console players. This ultimately won’t be a problem for solo players or groups of friends, but it’s still something to consider for players who intend to play on public servers.
