Look, let us be honest—Valheim, which originally launched into Early Access back in 2021 and made waves for its massive content packed into a surprisingly tiny file size, has finally transitioned to a full 1.0 release after five years. Naturally, this little development has sent the survival hit climbing back up the global top sellers and Concurrent Players charts on Steam.

The 1.0 update expands the adventure primarily around the frozen northern biome. Set against blinding blizzards, the update introduces fresh monsters, a final boss, and tameable animals. Alongside these additions come dozens of new weapons and armour pieces, brand-new building components, expanded inventory slots, and engine upgrades for smoother optimisation, among a myriad of other overhauls.

When Valheim first debuted in Early Access in 2021, it earned widespread praise for offering high-freedom mechanics encompassing building, combat, and exploration despite a minuscule 1GB file size, eventually peaking at a staggering 500,000 Concurrent Players. After rolling out continuous updates over roughly five years—including the Mistlands and Ashlands—the developers have finally pushed the 1.0 release live, propelling the title to the number six spot on Steam's global top sellers list. Concurrent Players also skyrocketed from a pre-update daily average in the 20,000s up to a peak of 160,000.

User reviews submitted since the full version update continue to hold a Very Positive rating (with 1,932 participants and 90% positivity). Players have praised the ability to explore a brand-new biome and the addition of Steam achievements, which provide a stronger sense of purpose. That being said, a few critics pointed out that the infamous fatigue remains, and the revamped building UI actually makes things less intuitive.

Elsewhere, Touhou Project remake Touhou Koumakyou: New Classic launched straight into the number two spot. Meanwhile, Halloween: The Game slipped down to third place, its user reviews dropping to Mixed due to persistent complaints regarding balance, bugs, and optimisation issues.

Over in the top 20 daily peak Concurrent Players chart, War Thunder climbed to 17th place with 82,978 players, while Taskbar Hero surged to 112,304 players, showing an upward trend for select titles as the weekend approaches.