Vikings, right? Coming here, taking our jobs, evolving our language, inventing combs. The Scandinavian invaders (and, ultimately, settlers) of the late 8th to mid-10th century sure did a lot of good in Britain and elsewhere in Europe - and it seems that games players can't get enough of them, either.
After Assassin's Creed Valhalla's successes in 2020, now another Vikings-themed game has rowed its longboat to public acclaim. Valheim is a newly released survival game that only emerged into early access on February 2nd - but the new title from developers Iron Gate AB has already hit the top of the Steam charts, as reported by PCGamesN. Check out the game's trailer below.
At its peak so far, Valheim has attracted over 130,000 concurrent players, according to Steam Charts - and at the time of writing, it has 57,000 players active. That puts it ahead of ARK: Survival Evolved, Football Manager 2021, Warframe and Civilization VI, both in terms of its peak concurrent players and current live stat. Not a bad start, at all.
Published by Coffee Stain - well known for Deep Rock Galactic and Goat Simulator - Valheim is, reads its Steam listing, "A brutal exploration and survival game for 1-10 players, set in a procedurally-generated purgatory inspired by viking culture." Players can enjoy a "huge procedurally-generated world", and can play in PvE with between two and ten players at a time. The game's "punishing" combat system is complemented by the option to "summon and defeat vengeful primordial bosses of myth and legend, and collect trophies to progress and craft new powerful items".
Which all sounds like a lot of axe-swinging fun, doesn't it? Probably? Sure.
The game's official Twitter account has laid out what's in store for the early access title in the coming months. First will be the Hearth and Home update, followed by Cult of the Wolf. Then it's time to prep those oars and neaten those sails as the Ships and the Sea update arrives.
Customer reviews for Valheim on Steam are, so far, "overwhelmingly positive". One reads, "Such a great game, for being in early access its easily one of the better if not best survival game i've played in a while." Another, "This is an absolutely incredible experience! it has been literally years since I've enjoyed a game this much!" So if you're playing Valheim right now and having a good time, it seems you're in good company.
Featured Image Credit: Coffee Stain Publishing
