Celebrating one year, Valheim team talks about the Mountain update and Steam Deck

It feels like it’s been a while since we last checked on Valheim, the Nordic survival game that exploded into popularity last year. And it has been a year since the game launched. To celebrate the anniversary of Valheim, developer Iron Gate AB released a new blog detailing a bit more about the upcoming Mountain update and the game’s compatibility with the Steam Deck. The team also promises that February will be an exciting month for the game.

“We never could have imagined that Valheim would get as big as it did, and it’s all thanks to you players,” writes Iron Gate about the game’s anniversary. “We’re going to celebrate throughout the whole month of February, and we’ve got some fun stuff planned for you — keep an eye on our social media pages to make sure you don’t miss anything!”

It’s certainly intriguing, and hopefully it means more on the Mountain update. On that front, Iron Gate released some screenshots teasing what the update includes: caves. While Valheim included a large, open-world area to explore, you couldn’t delve much deeper than your pickaxe allowed. With the Mountain update, Valheim players will be able to explore underground caves and possibly labyrinths of some kind. The two new screenshots show underground worlds both natural and manmade (above).

Deck the mead halls

Valve is preparing to launch its Steam Deck on February 25. One of the hot topics surrounding the device is game compatibility. In the blog post, Iron Gate brushed on the topic. At current, the company is working on making sure Valheim is “running smoothly” on the Steam Deck “from the start.”

“We would of course like to have Valheim running smoothly on [the Steam Deck] from the start, so that’s something we’re working on at the moment.,” writes Iron Gate AB. “Wouldn’t it be great to be able to bring Valheim with you on the train, or maybe even out into the woods? (If the greydwarfs give you their wifi password, that is.)”

The team is also still working on the Mistlands update, and had a surprise for fans: a bug. That’s right, the biome will include a new enemy type — a flying insect. Check out the concept art of it below and image those things chasing you all over an area covered in fog. That’ll be fun.