Valheim has been one of the most impressive Early Access success stories in years, with seven million copies sold within its two months of hitting Steam. The mix of survival and action and co-op endeared itself to many sparking our own deep dive into the game and the broader survival genre. As part of the Gamescom Opening Night Live presentation we got the release date for the first major update coming.

Alongside this very cool animated trailer.



"One of the most exciting things we saw when we first opened the gates of Valheim was the incredible creativity of the community and we immediately wanted to give players even more power to express themselves and create the homestead of their dreams," said Henrik Törnqvist, co-founder of Iron Gate Studio. "Though it's coming a little later than expected, the player base has been fantastic - understanding that we wanted to get Hearth & Home spot on - and in turn we've listened to our amazing community to keep building Valheim with them."

As per the namesake Hearth & Home brings a reworked food system and cooking extensions like spice racks, butcher tables and pots and pans. With new recipes set to offer more interesting choices for players when it comes to the core combat. On that front shields and blocking are set to be improved too. The update brings other building options like a treasure chest for Vikings to store gold and other cosmetic touches.

"As the first major update it was always important that Hearth & Home enhances the core gameplay that made fans fall in love with Valheim in the first place, all while adding new content and mechanics that give the game even more depth," adds Albert Säfström, CEO of Coffee Stain Publishing. "While there's plenty more to come from Valheim, it's the first step into realising the full potential of this game through Early Access, and we're so excited to see players experience it all when the update launches."

Valheim is available for $28.95 AUD via Steam Early Access.