Iron Gate’s hit open-world survival game Valheim is finally coming to PS5, set to launch in 2026. Following its initial release in 2021, the Early Access title has maintained strong global popularity and a growing community, but rather than expanding its scale of development, Iron Gate has stuck to a focused team of eight developers. During Osaka Expo 2025’s Nordic Games Day, AUTOMATON Japan talked to Jonathan Smårs, lead engineer and game designer at Iron Gate, about the behind-the-scenes of Valheim.
According to Smårs, Iron Gate currently operates with 16 people, but only 8 members are dedicated to Valheim’s development. “We often get asked why we don’t hire more staff, but our team members work like close friends, and this is what lets us stay focused on making something great. I think many players appreciate that we’re sticking to the ‘good old way’ of developing and running the game, and we’ve been able to build a very healthy relationship with our community.”
When asked about the increasing number of competitor titles in the open-world survival genre, Smårs says he doesn’t see them as extra pressure. “I’m happy to see other games follow in our footsteps. If anything, I hope we can share what worked for Valheim with others. If we exchange know-how among creators, the survival-craft genre will grow as a whole, which will eventually come back around to benefit us too.”
Another reason Valheim’s developers choose not to upsize the project’s scale is to ensure their work-life balance isn’t compromised. “At Iron Gate, we actually have one-hour massages available during work hours. Beyond that, many of us go running every week, hit the gym, grab drinks at a bar, or travel to unwind during development.” When faced with inevitable delays, the developers prioritize keeping major updates on track while shifting release schedules for smaller updates.
Over the course of Valheim’s development, Smårs says the most difficult moment for his team was the sudden explosion of players after release. “Over a million players joined, and we had to be extremely careful to make sure their game files didn’t get corrupted. It was stressful, but instead of worrying too much, we decided to focus on development and just keep moving forward with our work. Success in the game industry never comes easy, but I’m proud of what Valheim has achieved.”
Valheim is currently available in Early Access for PC (Steam/Microsoft Store) and Xbox One/Xbox Series X|S, also included in Xbox/PC Game Pass. The PlayStation version is scheduled for release in 2026.
I’ve been playing since the first day, and I don’t appreciate it. They made a lot of money and could have afforded it to speed up development and keep their promises. When you accept money from people, you have a responsibility to do your best for them, not do what’s best for you.
Personally speaking as an artist, I could maybe get a lot more done if I had more hands on deck, but at the cost of my mental state. Some people do so much better being able to brainstorm with others and some prefer to keep things small so it’s easier to focus.
Just because someone invests money in your project does not give them the right to order you around.
It is completely different from a commission, in which the payer can give a deadline.
Anyone who feels differently may have different experiences, or may just be an entitled little twat that knows zilch about crafting.
Anyone spending money on it is because they know it’s an awesome game. These guys have slaved to make a masterpiece and who cares how long it takes for an update. I remember when it first came out it even in its infancy had so much going on and such replayability that I had no problem waiting on an update. Rather than ragging on a small awesome team of developers, what amazing thing have you done lately, and how about we criticize you for it… I paid for it even though I had the free version from the start, and would gladly pay for it again. Good price for my actual favorite game ever. Good job you guys keep killing it.
They are doing their best. The best for a team of 8 people with lives outside of game development, and not subject to your whims. You paying 20 United States Dollars for a product does but mean you own these people, so get over yourself, please.
What an absolutely ridiculous take. You think that they don’t owe anything to the people who gave them money? So if you paid someone to build you a house, you would be okay with them taking decades to do it, because after all, they’re “creators” and don’t owe you anything? People don’t pay for products to indulge the creativity of artists, not most people anyway. They are paying to get a product, a complete product, in a timely fashion. Yes, they don’t have to break their backs, but the contention that they don’t owe us anything is completely ludicrous. They absolutely do.
The real reason is the same as the reason they’ve kept the game in early access for 4 years; it’s easier to make excuses for delays and taking 10x longer to keep the promises they made after getting paid. These guys made a decent game and are riding it out. I don’t get 1 hour massages every day, and my job is much more stressful than making video games. These guys instantly became part of the problem.
Very ignorant and short-sightedly entitled take. Just because you spent diddly squat on a product that you KNEW was in EARLY early access doesn’t mean you’re entitled for them to jump through hoops for you. I dont think you understand how early access works, so let me break it down for you:
You pay someone money so you can play their product early and through the development its release… that’s it. You are entitled to absolutely nothing beyond that outside of eventually a full and finished product. That’s only my opinion, however, because in reality you’re not even entitled to that.
Are people really defending the behavior of these devs?
They’ve made 200mil in revenue by ’23, with 8 devs, that’s 25 mil a piece. They’ve made their money and this has become more of a hobby to them than a necessity, and you all are licking their boots.
In office massages? They’re living the good life and you’re cheering them on, encouraging it