Valheim dev walks back roadmap after breakout launch

Valheim has been a smash success since it launched in February, and developer Iron Gate has been forced to change its approach after racking up millions of sales. The developer originally planned for four updates in 2021, but are now walking that back. Iron Gate does have some good news, though. The building focused Hearth and Home update is in the works for Q3 2021, and we can see some of the new items for building.

“We weren’t prepared for such a large influx of players, and this highlighted a thousand new problems and bugs that needed to be fixed urgently,” the developer wrote on the game’s official Steam page. “Our priority has been to make the current experience as stable as possible and this has meant new content has taken a backseat. To put it clearly; we haven’t been able to focus all of our resources on Hearth and Home until May.”

The original roadmap said that 2021 would have four updates: Hearth and Home, Cult of the Wolf, Saga Worthy Seas, and Call of the Mistlands. Now, Iron Gate will prioritize Hearth and Home, then the Mistlands update.

Here are some of the new base building and cooking elements planned for Hearth and Home.

New build pieces – Darkwood roofs and window hatches.

New cooking station extensions – spice rack, butcher table, pots & pans… In addition to this we’ve also implemented a new food system that places more importance between boosting health and stamina, making food choices more interesting based on your playstyle. To this end, we’ve also made some changes to how stamina/health affects your poise in combat. If you want to play a tanky, defensive viking you should now stock up on health, since this will boost your ability to deflect incoming hits and mitigate damage.

New foods to take advantage of the new system and cooking station extensions– more than 10 new recipes including Eyescream, Shocklate smoothie, various wolf meats, and more.

Plantable onions with pretty onion flowers.

Valheim had a much more popular launch than expected, and it’s no surprise that the developer has had to change their approach to adjust. The game has been a great example of how early access development can work out, and it’ll be interesting to see how Hearth and Home changes the survival game later this year.