A new open-world survival game based on a Viking theme makes its debut in Early Access with spectacular player numbers.
A peak of 130,370 players and the sixth position in the world for the most played video games on Steam this past week. That is what Valheim has achieved in just a few days. Available in early access since February 2 on the Valve portal, the new from the Swedish studio Iron Gate and Coffee Stain Publishing (Satisfactory) aims to be one of the sensations of this February and, at a time marked by phenomena fleeting, perhaps we should begin to remember his name. The numbers speak for themselves.
Something catches the attention of Valheim that is making him the one chosen by famous content creators like Gronkh and CohnCarnage, both with 1.3 million followers. If last Wednesday, February 3, we were talking about an average of 5,700 players on Steam, this Sunday the figure amounted to more than 130,000, above titans like Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, Apex Legends, Rocket League or ARK: Survival Evolved. In fact, its current best record is very close to the maximum numbers for Grand Theft Auto V this February (169,970), encouraging figures that reveal an unusual interest.
Leader in sales on Steam; great expectation on Twitch
In sales, Valheim is also the best-selling video game on Steam in the last seven days, ahead of releases like Nioh 2 – The Complete Edition, Tale of Immortal, Sekiro, Rust or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. We’ve talked about player figures and sales, but this promising Iron Gate bet also stands out among viewers on Twitch. Until the time of writing this article, more than 1,800 channels have been counted broadcasting live at the same time (during the night from Sunday to Monday) with an average of more than 71,000 viewers at that time. The maximum peak of the title is, at the moment, of more than 81,500 people.
It may be a one-day flower, or it may not. Cases like Rust or Escape from Tarkov serve as a warning that early access is sometimes the prelude to future mass successes.
The best seller on Steam. How far will Valheim go?
But what is Valheim?
The game is defined on Steam as “a brutal multiplayer exploration and survival game, set in a procedurally generated purgatory and inspired by Viking culture.” Fight, build and conquer territories with the magic of chance in its commitment to procedural design (using an algorithm).
Success is not necessarily governed by good reviews, however. In Valheim’s case, the Steam reviews happen to be extremely positive. With 7,859 verified reviews on Valve’s platform, 7,481 are very positive.
A look at Valheim
Although we can play alone, Valheim is designed to be enjoyed in company, in games with recommended groups of three to five players, although it can be up to ten, taking elements of old acquaintances such as – saving distances – Minecraft, Fortnite and other multiplayer sandboxes with construction mechanics and collection of elements that we can use as raw material for crafting. From the construction of your house to the construction of your ax through the journey to new areas endowed with different ecosystems. Each player’s individual experience is always unique. Nothing particularly new, but attractive enough for many.
When it comes to combat, Valheim is very direct and, for now at least, the depth of these melee engagements is not his strong suit. We can use different types of weapons, dodge and improve our parameters; but the bases are there, with pleasant reminiscences of the Norse mythology that we have seen in titles like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Hellblade or God of War (2018).
Valheim begins to grow on Twitch. It is not only played, it is also seen.
The CEO of the company, Richard Svensson, could not believe what was happening on the eve of a weekend that seemed historic for the company. At the moment, the game’s official Twitter account has only 6,192 followers, while on Discord the figure is already close to 19,500 members.
Valheim has an interface and subtitles in Spanish. The game does not currently have a release date given its early access status; it is unknown when version 1.0 will be released. Meanwhile, the purchase of the title for Windows 10 costs 16.79 euros.
