Valheim has left Early Access with version 1.0, bringing the Deep North biome to the PC survival game after more than five years in development. Iron Gate announced the release on 9 September through the game's Steam page, where it also published the full update notes for the final biome.
The Deep North update adds more than a new destination. Iron Gate's abbreviated notes list over 40 weapons, four armour sets, more than 10 creatures, over 80 buildable pieces and achievements. The patch also adds a grappling hook, a snow shovel, a new boss and a draw-distance setting. The developer says a shorter draw distance can improve performance, while a longer setting can make performance worse on higher-end setups.
Players do not need to buy the game again if they owned the Early Access version: Iron Gate says existing copies simply update to 1.0. Old worlds and saves remain usable, but Deep North biome generation works properly only in terrain that has not already been explored. The studio recommends starting over for the best experience, although players can keep their current saves and head north if they prefer.
There is a separate warning for the PC modding community. Iron Gate says it has no official mod support and cannot guarantee that existing mods will function with 1.0. The game will not receive Steam Workshop support with this update. Players joining servers with modded setups should therefore expect compatibility to depend on the individual mod authors rather than the release itself.
Version 1.0 retains Valheim's one-to-10-player server limit and adds full cross-play across its supported platforms, including Steam on Windows, Linux and Mac. Iron Gate also says the update introduces a save system that splits world data into chunks, alongside changes intended to reduce write work and better handle interrupted saves. The studio plans to continue bug-fix and quality-of-life support, but has not committed to future content after 1.0.
