It looks like the world just can’t get enough of Iron Gate Studio’s viking simulator. Valheim has been on quite a roll since its Early Access release on Steam. The game hit 364,629 concurrent players in just two weeks, with over 75,000 concurrent viewers on Twitch.
The game has casually broken another record to reach a peak of 502,387 concurrent players on Steam according to SteamCharts. The charts haven’t yet updated as of this writing. Valheim hasn’t just raked in the numbers, but also the sales. Just last week the game hit another huge milestone by selling a whopping three million copies in less than three weeks.
Topping 500K concurrent players can be considered quite an achievement, as the number is higher than that of a little game called Dota 2. Valheim sits second only to Counter Strike: Global Offensive. However, it seems to be a close race as the Dota 2 numbers have gone up since then. It looks like this fluctuation will last for a while, but at the rate at which things are going, it won’t be surprising to see Valheim claim the number two spot for good. Have I mentioned that it’s still in Early Access?
The success of the game has come as quite a surprise, and as with so many games recently, there doesn’t seem to be a particular reason behind it. The game launched in Early Access with almost no hype and is now competing with giants like Dota 2. One could say that the PvE format mixed with survival mechanics is a breath of fresh air as compared to a hundred guys running around with guns.
What makes this feat even more impressive is that Valheim was made by a grand total of five people, and exceeded the expectations of developer, Iron Gate. “We had a feeling that it would sell pretty well, at least to sustain us, you know. But it being a million seller, and now two million seller, is something we could never have guessed. It's quite incredible, and very humbling also, I might add." said co-founder of Iron Gate Studios, Henrik Törnqvist.
Of course, Valheim sold another million copies since Henrik spoke those words, so who’s to say when this game will finally hit its peak?