Valheim originally started as a passion project by two Swedish developers, Richard Svensson and Henrik Tornqvist just working on the game in their spare time after their regular jobs. Richard began the development alone around 2017, driven by his fascination with Norse mythology and survival games, and later teamed up with Henrik. Together, they laid the foundations for what would become Valheim.
In April 2019, they formed the indie game studio, Iron Gate Studios, which remained as a small team even as the game gained traction. Their approach focused on engaging with the community from the very beginning, sharing updates, gathering feedback, and building a supportive fan base long before the game was officially released.
Their dedication paid off when Valheim launched in early access on Steam in February 2021, with publishing covered by Coffee Stain Publishing (known for Goat Simulator, Satisfactory, Deep Rock Galactic, etc.) The game quickly gained popularity due to its unique blend of survival mechanics, cooperative gameplay, and immersive Viking-themed world. And despite the limited size of their team, Valheim achieved impressive sales, reaching over 1 million copies sold within a few weeks of release and still has around 21-23,000 active players to this day.
In March 2023, the game arrived on the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S with the porting handles by FISHLABS. It is said that the game is planning to come to the Nintendo Switch 2 some time in 2026, but has not been officially announced and remains with an unknown porting company. Valheim has yet to reach the Playstation 5 but the developers have stated that they would like to bring it to the console at some point in the future.