Valheim development has an end point, developer says, as Hearth and Home arrives

Smash hit Viking game Valheim will eventually be completed and have a final ending, developer Iron Gate Studio has promised, as today's big Hearth and Home update arrives.

There's no suggestion we are close to that yet, but Iron Gate said it wanted to eventually polish off the project and move on - rather than keep it continually updated as a live service game or an MMO.

"Spoiler alert: this game will eventually have an ending. There will be a definitive ending where you beat the game, just so people understand," artist Robin Eyre explained in a 30 minute fireside chat developer video.

"You can still play if you want to, but we're trying to make a game where you progress towards some culmination of what Valheim actually is. There is an ending. That's important to keep in mind."

"That's how we made games back in the day, before games as a service became the standard, apparently," creator and lead designer Richard Svensson added.

The pair go on to note that Iron Gate could probably finish the project faster if they hired more people to pump out content, but this would result in a different game to the one they wanted to make. Currently, Valheim remains the work of a small collaborative team able to decide things organically.

The video discusses the Hearth and Home update in detail, and notes how it began as just a few new cooking recipes, before the concept "exploded".

Every food item and recipe has been updated, and it was not the case that the game will simply be made tougher, Iron Gate said. Rather, the effects of food have been balanced to better fit with the game's enemies - even if specific meals have seen nerfs.

The update is meant to address the fact the food system "needs polish" and that addressing this now will mean future updates are easier. Also, that it was unlikely any item was completely done and perfectly balanced.

Originally Iron Gate wanted to simply drop Hearth and Home unannounced to let players discover what was in it, but the update arrived later than planned due to bug-fixing becoming a priority, so certain features have been teased.

Still, today's update does have new features designed to be discovered during play.

"Not even Odin has spied some of the new features being added with the update," a press release sent out today states, "including something dark and mysterious that seems to spread across the plains."

As well as new food and rebalanced recipes, Hearth and Home adds Darkwood and stone building pieces, the ability to name pets, map sharing between players, additional tree types and a brand new obliterator extension to destroy items.

Fresh gear includes a new crystal battle axe, a bone tower shield, iron buckler and silver knife.