Coffee Stain Publishing and Iron Gate Studio have revealed that their new game Valheim has surpassed one million units sold, seeing it take pole position on the Global Top Sellers list on Steam. The exploration co-op survival viking game launched on Steam Early Access on February 2nd, and alongside its commercial success, Valheim has so far acquired over 11,000 ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ user reviews.
On Tuesday February 9th, Valheim became the fourth most played game on Steam, hosting over 160,000 peak concurrent users, surpassing Grand Theft Auto V, Apex Legends and Rocket League, according to the platform. Alongside critical and player acclaim, Valheim has also proven popular with some of the world’s biggest content creators, seeing over 127,000 peak viewers on Twitch on the evening of February 8th.
Created by Iron Gate Studio, a new Swedish developer, Valheim began as a one man passion project from CEO Richard Svensson in 2018, and the team was expanded to five by 2020. Coffee Stain, also headquartered in Skövde, came on board as publisher in 2018. Valheim is one of a number of global success stories to come from the small town of Skövde, with a population of just over 50,000, including Coffee Stain’s own ludicrous sensation Goat Simulator, and survival game Raft from Redbeet Interactive and Axolot Games.
Valheim signals another success for Coffee Stain Publishing. Having launched in 2017, the team has worked with a select number of titles, including the critically acclaimed arcade shooter Huntdown, coming to Steam soon, and Deep Rock Galactic, which surpassed two million units sold earlier this year. Midnight Ghost Hunt, the spooky 4v4 prop hunt title, currently in development, went viral in 2018 and has a Valentines Day alpha this weekend that players can register for now. Satisfactory, the otherworldly factory builder, developed and published by Coffee Stain, currently in Early Access, will soon launch its highly anticipated Update 4.
Whilst Valheim has seen exceptional success so far, this is only the beginning, and Iron Gate Studio has already revealed a living Early Access roadmap, promising new biomes, new enemies, and improvements to combat, ships and more.
Richard Svensson, CEO, Iron Gate Studio, commented on the reasons behind Valheim’s success:
“Valheim is a cooperative game about exploring a huge rather colorful world with very few borders or limits, that’s been released during a global pandemic when a lot of people are locked inside their homes and unable to see their friends and family. Hopefully being clubbed by a troll together will make them feel better” said Richard Svensson, CEO, Iron Gate Studio. “Thanks to an awesome publisher that allowed us to follow our vision and for understanding that you can’t rush creativity.”
“When we signed Valheim and Iron Gate, which at the time was just Richard, we knew the game was awesome, but it has continued to surpass our expectations at every turn. When we’re scouting for games, solo developers and small teams stand out, because they come with a focused vision, and obvious talent, but with plenty of room for us to support,” said Sebastian Badylak, Executive Producer, Coffee Stain Publishing. “Valheim is a perfect example of what an agile, super talented team can achieve when you give them the room and tools to make what they want. This is just the beginning.”
Valheim is now available for $19.99 on Steam Early Access for PC and Linux.
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