Everything I saw on my trip to Valheim's final biome, the Deep North: from ghost vikings to rampaging moose

It's been five years since Valheim launched in early access, and it's held on strong as one of my most-played games on Steam ever since. I wasn't the only one smitten with the viking-themed survival crafting game from Iron Gate either, as the studio says it's sold over 17 million copies to date.

That's a big ol' number for a game still in early access, but that's changing soon. During today's PC Gaming Show, Iron Gate announced that Valheim will launch its version 1.0 update on September 9.

As part of its big jump into 1.0, Valheim is getting a brand new biome, Deep North, and other quality-of-life upgrades. It's exactly what it sounds like, too. The Deep North is a deathly cold, winter wonderland where vikings will trudge through neck-deep snow and slip and slide across frozen lakes. I speak from experience. I played a bit of the 1.0 update as part of a guided tour with developers from Iron Gate, and it's got me excited about Valheim all over again.

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Deep North is Valheim's final biome, and it's not just an extension of the snowy Mountain biome already in the game. It's more like the Meadows or Black Forest, so you'll find a lot of Deep North generated in your 1.0 worlds. And like those other biomes, it's meant to be accessible early on, but with a few more environmental hazards and new resources.

I like the approach, especially since it's a real pain to build in the only snowy landscape Valheim has for now. Even though I've explored as far as the Mistlands in my own adventures, I always wind up right back in the Meadows or Black Forest to build. But I don't want your takeaway to be that it's some walk in the park, because it's not.

I died meandering through the snow more than I ever died in the Black Forest—sometimes to the cold, and sometimes to gigantic beasts I was not prepared for. The Deep North seems like it's home to a mix of difficulties, and the further we pushed through the snow, the more I seemed to struggle with each new icy threat.

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Just look at this guy, isn't he neat?(Image credit: Iron Gate)

Two of them! (I swear there's more than just seals)(Image credit: Iron Gate)

A few gearsets, all lookin' good.(Image credit: Iron Gate)

Not the most intimidating enemy in the Deep North, but I got my ass whooped by a moose in the demo.(Image credit: Iron Gate)

These spirts were all over abandoned villages.(Image credit: Iron Gate)

What I noticed while exploring Valheim's Deep North

A lot was going on in just that brief hour I spent in the Deep North, so allow me to quickly list some of the highlights:

• The group I was with saw a seal scooting through the snow, and none of us were willing to kill it—it's that cute. They're friendly, just like the deer in the Meadows.
• Valheim still isn't adding horses, but you can tame and mount a moose. When I asked where they were, one came bolting out of the woods and mowed us down.
• The snow gets quite deep, but Iron Gate doesn't think it's very fun if they make it slow you down, so it doesn't.
• Yes, there's ice. And yes, it's very slippery.
• Met a giant lanky guy called Barka. It's what a Greydwarf becomes just before it morphs into an elder.
• There were a few loose story elements too, including a new animated intro and ghostly vikings that walked around villages talking (but they ignored me).
• We didn't see it in action, but Iron Gate also mentioned some spirits will "gift you stuff"
• The build menu is getting some much-needed QoL with options to search, favorite, and browse recent crafts.

We also stopped by the Winding Tunnels, one of the new dungeons in Deep North. The name is exactly how it sounds, and had I not been surrounded by people on all sides, I know I would've gotten lost immediately. From what I saw, it's not too different from most Valheim dungeons, just a few more tight turns and spaces than normal.

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A big mysterious gate to a dungeon I could not enter.(Image credit: Iron Gate)

But I could enter this one.(Image credit: Iron Gate)

Loved this guy's performance in Pan's Labyrinth. (Image credit: Iron Gate)

This guy threw not just one log, but a whole stream of them.(Image credit: Iron Gate)

Another neat idea I was happy to see return was Valheim's living mining nodes. Like the Leviathans you see floating out in the ocean, Deep North has its own creature you'll harvest a hefty supply of raw materials from. They're called Gammeltrolls, and they're way more hostile than Leviathans. We wound up tossing explosives at one to blow its legs off and harvest the delicious ore that dropped, and just when I thought I'd lived through the fight with the giant troll, that damn moose came back and landed the killing blow on me. God, I forgot how much I loved Valheim.

My speedrun through the tundra felt like more than enough to pull me back in, but I only had a small sample of the new biome. The tour ended just as we reached a second door, mysteriously gated off by golden chains. I was told this big gate leads to Deep North's second dungeon, and part of the escalating challenge in the new biome. I don't know what waits for me beyond those doors, but I plan to find out as soon as I can.

Valheim 1.0 launches version 1.0 on September 9, but you can check it out now in early access on Steam.