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Valheim managed to sell over 1 million copies in the first week

By - | Views: 27,819

It was clear from the moment it release that Iron Gate was onto something with Valheim, their Norse mythology and Vikings inspired open world co-op survival game.

For an Early Access game on Steam from a new developer to hit over 1 million sales in the first week, that's pretty damn incredible considering the competition they are up against. By the second day of release they were already hitting close to 20 thousand players online, by the fourth day it was hitting close to 100 thousand online and they've since hit a peak player count of 219,465 on Thursday, February 11.

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We did reach out to the developer to see how the Linux sales went so far but no reply yet. They're only a small team and due to the popularity, they've probably got thousands of emails waiting so it's not really surprising. A lot of it was developed on Linux too, so that's awesome.

They've got a lot planned to come to the game through 2021 and perhaps even beyond considering how popular it is, they should now have plenty of funding to ensure it sees a long life. It's already got a huge amount to see and do though, it's definitely going to stay as one of 2021's best Linux games.

You can buy Valheim with Linux support on Steam. It's an easy recommendation.

Just as a reminder: if you want to hook up with other Linux players, our Discord has a Game Server channel with multiple people hosting already and plenty of regulars from our community joining in on the fun.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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27 comments
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Janne Feb 12, 2021
Got it yesterday. It's really amazingly fun even single player. And with servers apparently limited to 10 people, it may be a pretty good online environment too.
Al3s Feb 12, 2021
I bought it and after 6 hours I just can't justify the praise it's getting. I actually regret not asking for the refund while I could.
It does nothing new: the wold is pretty empty and bland, lots of grinding with extremely boring mechanics, combat is nothing special...
Building editor is decent, tho.


Last edited by Al3s on 12 February 2021 at 4:25 pm UTC
SuperTux Feb 12, 2021
Love itm, even as single player.
lukas333 Feb 12, 2021
It's very fun, hopefully the sales will make the devs improve it for a while too
drlamb Feb 12, 2021
While the game does bring some new mechanics into the genre I don't think that's what is selling this game.

This game is selling well because of how well all of those mechanics work together, there's no other game quite like it. The level of polish and thoughtfulness put into this game continues to astound me. It's the little touches here and there that really make this game stand out in the over-saturated (and often universally bad) early access survival crafting genre.

The amount of content already in the game for $20 is outright insane. I'd pay much more for this game. As of right now I'm at ~45 hours and in the Iron Age and I'm still noticing new things. This game reminds me of runescape, fable, and minecraft all in one.

I've now got 7 people on my server and it's been a blast to play as the difficulty scales to the number of players. This game is more challenging than other games in the genre but not as punishing (game won't kill you if you don't eat, repairs don't take resources, etc). There's something to be said about having to haul loads of scrap iron by ship across a sea-serpent infested ocean (if you start on an island without a swamp). While this may be considered "grindy" by some I think the constant danger and relative scarcity of resources (especially ores) makes the payoff of building the next upgrade or forging the next piece of armor that much more rewarding.

My clan has been sharing resources (as to not have one person in full iron while there are others in leather) so hoarding isn't much of a concern but I LOVE the fact that you can build personal chests and even setup private residences (there's an item you can build that prevents others from opening your doors).


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Your character and their inventory transfer across servers. When the game releases and all of the biomes/bosses are introduced all you'd have to do is create a new world and login with your prexisting character.

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graphics tip: Turn off depth of field, motion blur, and chromatic aberration (and possible head shake!) for a much sharper looking game. This game is gorgeous, now only if it performed better with Vulkan on AMD...


Last edited by drlamb on 12 February 2021 at 10:56 pm UTC
Shmerl Feb 12, 2021
If developers read this - please release the game on GOG too. With good sales numbers it should be possible.
x_wing Feb 12, 2021
Quoting: drlambgraphics tip: Turn off depth of field, motion blur, and chromatic aberration (and possible head shake!) for a much sharper looking game. This game is gorgeous, now only if it performed better with Vulkan on AMD...

What issues are you having with Vulkan? OpenGL and Vulkan works the same for me with AMD (~30-40 fps with everything in high).
woox2k Feb 12, 2021
Who said survival games are dead. I bought it as well to keep Linux numbers going and so far, 6h in, i like it!
drlamb Feb 12, 2021
Quoting: x_wing

I've read that at 1440P the performance really starts to tank. Vulkan's frame times are all over the place. It does not feel smooth all of the time. I'll be running at 70+ FPS one second and then sub 50 the next. Even with freesync the stutter is noticeable under Vulkan. OpenGL, while not perfect, at least doesn't suffer the same inconsistent/stuttery performance.


Last edited by drlamb on 12 February 2021 at 10:59 pm UTC
apocalyptech Feb 12, 2021
Congrats to the devs! The game itself isn't my personal cup o' tea, but it's always great to see an indie studio hitting it big like this. Keep up the focus, Iron Gate! And enjoy your popularity. :)
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