Going into the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase on Sunday, I had one game on my mind: Starfield. And even though it was nice to see gameplay footage (even if it felt eerily similar to the early gameplay footage for Cyberpunk 2077 — kind of staged, is what I’m getting at), I think a number of people, myself included, walked away feeling a bit underwhelmed. So even though Starfield was what I was most anticipated to see going into the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase, what ended up sparking the most hype for me actually happened in the Xbox Games Showcase Extended on Tuesday. There, we got the announcement that Valheim is coming to Xbox consoles in spring of 2023.
It is worth noting that, for anyone on PC who doesn’t already own a copy, Valheim will also be hitting PC Game Pass later this year. Not only that, but it will also support crossplay between the Xbox launcher and Steam, which is a pretty cool bonus.
I personally fell in love with Valheim when I first started playing it last year, but I just don’t have a comfortable enough setup to enjoy PC gaming for prolonged periods of time. So to be able to fire this thing up on my Xbox Series S and enjoy building shelter after shelter from the comfort of my sofa? Well, that strikes me as a delectable proposition.
If you aren’t familiar with Valheim, it is a third-person action survival crafting title with a whole lot of Viking lore. You create your own Viking and effectively set out to fight mythical beasts, but along the way you can sink tens of hours into exploring a massive open world, complete with underground caverns where you will encounter all manner of monster to fight and vanquish. It’s got really solid combat and exploration, as well as rewarding crafting and building mechanics.
You can check out the trailer below to get a better idea of exactly what to expect for when Valheim launches on Xbox consoles next year. You can also just buy it now on Steam if you have a gaming rig and don’t want to wait.
