{"id":52683,"date":"2025-10-04T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T15:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=52683"},"modified":"2025-10-03T16:54:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T07:54:21","slug":"valheim-developers-continue-to-work-with-only-8-team-members-we-ask-them-why-they-stick-to-small-scale-development-amid-growing-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/valheim-developers-continue-to-work-with-only-8-team-members-we-ask-them-why-they-stick-to-small-scale-development-amid-growing-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Valheim developers continue to work with only 8 team members. We ask them why they stick to small-scale development amid growing competition\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Iron Gate\u2019s hit open-world survival game <strong>Valheim<\/strong> 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\u2019s Nordic Games Day, AUTOMATON Japan talked to Jonathan Sm\u00e5rs, lead engineer and game designer at Iron Gate, about the behind-the-scenes of Valheim.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1536\" height=\"949\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/valheim-20251002-360166-001-1536x949-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-52686\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/valheim-20251002-360166-001-1536x949-1.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/valheim-20251002-360166-001-1536x949-1-380x235.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/valheim-20251002-360166-001-1536x949-1-768x475.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Sm\u00e5rs, Iron Gate currently operates with 16 people, but only 8 members are dedicated to Valheim\u2019s development. \u201cWe often get asked why we don\u2019t 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\u2019re sticking to the \u2018good old way\u2019 of developing and running the game, and we\u2019ve been able to build a very healthy relationship with our community.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When asked about the increasing number of competitor titles in the open-world survival genre, Sm\u00e5rs says he doesn\u2019t see them as extra pressure. \u201cI\u2019m 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.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Valheim - Valheim PlayStation Announcement Trailer: The Forsaken [starring Neil Newbon] | PS5 Games\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eCGYdxLm2QE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Another reason Valheim&#8217;s developers choose not to upsize the project\u2019s scale is to ensure their work-life balance isn\u2019t compromised. \u201cAt 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.\u201d When faced with inevitable delays, the developers prioritize keeping major updates on track while shifting release schedules for smaller updates.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the course of Valheim\u2019s development, Sm\u00e5rs says the most difficult moment for his team was the sudden explosion of players after release. \u201cOver a million players joined, and we had to be extremely careful to make sure their game files didn\u2019t 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\u2019m proud of what Valheim has achieved.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.valheimgame.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Valheim<\/a> is currently available in Early Access for PC (<a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/892970\/Valheim\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Steam<\/a>\/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.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Iron Gate lead engineer and game designer Jonathan Sm\u00e5rs talks about Valheim&#8217;s small but focused development team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[64,10],"tags":[18],"class_list":["post-52683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-development","category-interviews","tag-global-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Valheim developers continue to work with only 8 team members. We ask them why they stick to small-scale development amid growing competition\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Iron Gate lead engineer and game designer Jonathan Sm\u00e5rs talks about Valheim&#039;s small but focused development team.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/valheim-developers-continue-to-work-with-only-8-team-members-we-ask-them-why-they-stick-to-small-scale-development-amid-growing-competition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Valheim developers continue to work with only 8 team members. 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