Our 2021 GOTY, Valheim, is now on Game Pass

News
By published

Crossplay between the Xbox and Steam versions seals the deal here.

Valheim Viking giving thumbs up
(Image credit: Iron Gate Studios)

The Nordic-flavored survival game that took PC gaming by storm in 2021 is now chopping down trees and killing Odin's creatures on Microsoft's PC Game Pass.

If you're already exploring Valheim's biomes, building castles and longships, getting up to viking business and whatnot, this is a fantastic way to get new friends into the game. Valheim's crossplay functionality will allow you to connect with friends playing on PC Game Pass and even consoles—if you need help with that, we have a guide on how to enable crossplay in Valheim.

The move to Game Pass comes ahead of Valheim's Mistlands update, which is still expected to release by the end of the year. From what we know so far, the update will feature new fauna, weapons, armor, and some evocative-looking ruins. Mistlands was initially set to release at the end of 2021, and we did note in our State of Valheim 2022 feature that impatience for the new expansion is one of very few points of discontent in the community.

"Millions of people spending months absorbed in an Early Access game made by a tiny studio is the kind of magic I adore about PC games," Lauren Morton wrote in our 2021 Game of the Year Award writeup.

Ted Litchfield
Associate Editor

Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch. You can follow Ted on Bluesky.