Valheim 1.0: Release Date, Platforms, and What It Changes For Servers
Valheim 1.0 releases on September 9, 2026, ending five years of Early Access. It brings the Deep North, adds PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2, and turns on crossplay between every platform. This page is the short version: what Iron Gate has actually confirmed, what it has pointedly not, and what each fact means if you run a dedicated server.
Last verified: August 29, 2026, against the official Valheim 1.0 FAQ and the release-date announcement. Everything below is first-party; where the developers have said nothing, this page says so rather than guessing.
Is Valheim 1.0 out yet?
Not yet. September 9, 2026. The date is confirmed by Iron Gate directly, not by a leak or a store listing. Until then the current build is the live one, and nothing in this page needs acting on before launch day except your backups.
What is confirmed
- Release date: September 9, 2026.
- The update focuses on the Deep North biome, Valheim's final biome, alongside the 1.0 milestone itself.
- Crossplay: "Yes, Valheim will support crossplay between all platforms."
- Your existing worlds keep working: "Your old saves will still be where you last left them, and you can continue to play with them if you like."
- But new biome content only generates in unexplored ground: "biome generation will only work properly on areas that have not yet been explored."
- Iron Gate recommends starting fresh anyway: "we always recommend that you start the game over from scratch to get the best possible experience."
Where you will be able to buy and play it
1.0 widens the platform list considerably. Per the official FAQ: Steam for Windows, Linux and Mac; the Mac App Store; the Humble store for Windows, Linux and Mac; the Microsoft Store for Windows; plus Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2.
PlayStation 5 and Switch 2 are new at 1.0. If you have been told Valheim is already on PS5, that is wrong today and correct from September 9. Crossplay covers all of them, so a PC-hosted world can take console players.
Every platform at 1.0
| Platform | Available at 1.0 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Steam (Windows, Linux, Mac) | Yes | The existing route; Linux is what a dedicated server runs. |
| Microsoft Store (Windows) | Yes | The only PC route that syncs saves with Xbox. |
| Mac App Store | Yes | New storefront listing at 1.0. |
| Humble (Windows, Linux, Mac) | Yes | Named directly in the official FAQ. |
| Xbox One / Xbox Series X|S | Yes | Save access from PC only via the Microsoft Store build. |
| PlayStation 5 | New at 1.0 | No PS5 version exists before September 9. |
| Nintendo Switch 2 | New at 1.0 | No Switch version exists before September 9. |
Crossplay spans all of them. Save sync does not, which is the distinction most platform questions actually turn on.
What 1.0 does not change
A 1.0 label on a game people have played for five years is a milestone, not a rebuild. Worth being clear about what stays the same: the game is still bought once with no subscription, dedicated servers are still self-hosted or rented rather than official matchmaking, and there is still no first-party mod support, which is exactly why the FAQ will not vouch for mods.
Save sync is narrower than crossplay
Crossplay and save sync are two different things, and the FAQ separates them: "If you are playing on an Xbox, you will be able to access your saves from a PC, provided that you launch the game from the Microsoft store. Beyond this, there will be no cross platform sync."
So a PS5 or Switch 2 player cannot carry a local single-player world to PC. A dedicated server sidesteps the whole question, because the world lives on the server rather than on any one player's console, which is the practical reason mixed-platform groups end up renting one.
Mods: the one that will bite modded servers
The FAQ is blunt: "Since we don't have any official mod support, we cannot guarantee that any mods will be functional when 1.0 releases."
Treat every BepInEx plugin on your server as broken until its author ships a 1.0 build. That is not a prediction about this update specifically; it is the standard outcome of a major Valheim version bump, and 1.0 is the largest one there has been. If your server's identity depends on a mod list, plan for a window where it runs vanilla.
What it means if you run a dedicated server
The FAQ does not cover dedicated servers at all. No statement about server binaries, config changes, or update ordering. So the honest advice is the boring kind rather than anything specific to 1.0:
- Take a verified backup before September 9, verified meaning you restored it somewhere, not that the file exists.
- Decide your world plan in advance. Keeping the veteran world is supported, but the Deep North will only appear in ground nobody has walked. A fresh seed is what the developers recommend.
- Expect the mod list to be the long pole, not the server build.
- Do not update the server and the clients at different times if you can avoid it; version mismatches are the usual first-day support ticket.
Common questions
Is Valheim 1.0 out?
Not yet. It releases on September 9, 2026, confirmed by Iron Gate.
Does Valheim 1.0 wipe my world?
No. "Your old saves will still be where you last left them, and you can continue to play with them if you like." The catch is that the Deep North only generates in ground you have not explored, so a heavily-travelled world will show less of the new biome.
Should I start a new world for 1.0?
Iron Gate says yes: "we always recommend that you start the game over from scratch to get the best possible experience." On a server that is a decision to make before launch day rather than during it, because both options are defensible and switching later costs the group its progress.
Will my Valheim mods work on 1.0?
Assume not, at least at first. The FAQ says plainly that with no official mod support they "cannot guarantee that any mods will be functional when 1.0 releases." A major version bump normally breaks BepInEx plugins until each author updates.
Is Valheim on PS5 or Switch 2?
Not before September 9, 2026. Both arrive with 1.0, and both get crossplay with PC and Xbox.
Can a PS5 player join a PC dedicated server?
Yes, from 1.0, because crossplay covers every platform. What a console player cannot do is move a local single-player world onto PC, since save sync exists only between Xbox and the Microsoft Store PC build.
Go deeper
- 1.0 server readiness: backup and update checklist
- Will Deep North break already-explored areas in my world?
- Deep North server prep: backup, staging and update steps
- Deep North base planning and 1.0 server prep
- Deep North vs Ashlands: which biome is harder?
- Hildir's Request and the Deep North
- Best Valheim mods in 2026
- PS5, Switch 2 and crossplay setup
Want launch day handled for you? Valheim server hosting takes a backup before every game update, so a 1.0 world that goes wrong is a restore rather than a loss, plus managed updates, world imports and crossplay configuration.