Valheim developers share early updates on Mistlands progress

New updates are in development for Viking survival sim Valheim, this time with a focus on the Mistlands. Iron Gate Studio shared some early details, as well as concept art, in a developer blog on Friday. These updates come a little over a month after the launch of the Hearth and Home update, which added additional furniture and foods, an Obliterator, and other quality-of-life improvements.

Some of the updates coming soon are small, like the addition of jack-o’-turnip crafting in the spirit of spooky season. “Vikings didn’t exactly celebrate Halloween, but it’s still nice to have something to brighten up the homestead when the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting darker,” the Iron Gate team said.

Image: Iron Gate Studio/Coffee Stain Publishing

Other updates give a glimpse at larger projects. The team is currently focusing on building out the Mistlands biome, which Iron Gate Studios developers previously announced as their next priority. The biome, as it currently looks in the game, is mysterious, dark, and dense with trees. So far, the developers have been focusing on design:

“Those of you who follow Richard on Twitter might have noticed that he’s experimenting with the terrain and textures for the Mistlands, which will be our next big biome update! However, please keep in mind that this is not a final version, and that the landscape will likely change quite a bit before we figure out just exactly what the Mistlands will look like. It’s also still too early to say what the implementation of the Mistlands will mean for your existing worlds, but we will keep you updated once we know more.”

As a “biome update takes quite a while to develop,” the team shared plans for additional updates, including a mysterious addition to the Mountains region. Though the final version of that design hasn’t been firmed up, Iron Gate shared some concept art to “convey the general feeling.”

Image: Iron Gate Studio

Image: Iron Gate Studio

Iron Gate Studio developers also said they have begun “looking at things for future updates, this time focusing more on adventure and exploration than on building.” The team also announced a forthcoming Reddit AMA, though no dates have been confirmed. They previously had an AMA in June.

Valheim launched in February on Steam Early Access, and has sold more than 7 million copies since. The game’s initial success caught Iron Gate off guard, causing the studio to adjust its development roadmap to prioritize a stable release over new content offerings.