For 5 years, Valheim has been in Early Access, the developers are celebrating the milestone with a special update. This brings not only some nice extras but also significant improvements in performance. However, fans hope that the real gift is yet to come — and soon.
What kind of update is this? With patch 0.221.10, Iron Gate, the developer studio behind Valheim, celebrates the 5th anniversary of their game. The open-world survival game, in which you fight through a kind of purgatory of Vikings, launched in Early Access on February 2, 2021.
Festive decoration, an axe, and performance boost
What’s included in the update? You can find the detailed patch notes on Steam. Here are the changes at a glance:
- a festive hat
- “Early Axes” (a pun with “Axes”, which means “axes”, sounding similar to “Access”)
- Sweetened sweet bread
- New emotes (and a menu wheel for emotes)
- New hairstyles
- 2 new buildable garlands
- Engine upgrade
- Several bug fixes and improvements
The engine upgrade sounds particularly exciting. It is supposed to noticeably improve the game’s performance. Additionally, you can now adjust more settings in the graphics options.
Moreover, the game is now also supposed to run smoother on the Steam Deck. In performance mode, the game now reaches 60 FPS. There are also presets to help conserve your handheld’s battery. Lastly, Valheim now uses your Steam Deck’s native resolution from the start.
Fans eagerly await the release
How are fans reacting to the update? The update is surprising, but it is generally received positively by the community. Fans are much more excited about what this update might lead to: the release of version 1.0.
Seeing Valheim leave Early Access would be the true gift for fans. The fact that the developers are now focusing on performance is also seen by some fans as a sign that a release is not far off:
“Optimization can only mean one thing: 1.0 is here and coming soon,” writes YouTube user deadfishy666 under a video by YouTuber Jade PG, who discussed the update.
When will Valheim leave Early Access? There is currently no official release date (as of February 3, 2026, 12:13 PM). However, Iron Gate has announced that Valheim is set to leave Early Access in 2026 and will receive a PS5 version.
Right at the beginning of the Early Access phase, the game won many fans. Valheim quickly became one of the best survival games on Steam and has remained so to this day. You can find more recommendations here: The 31 best survival games of 2025 for PS5, Steam, and Xbox
