Valheim developers Iron Gate Studios have been teasing Hearth & Home for months now, with stacks of coins, treasure rooms, new foods, and even a rebalance to existing weapons. And now in its latest fireside chat video, Iron Gate is recommending that players start over to experience everything that’s new in Hearth & Home.

Yesterday’s fireside chat included Iron Gate founder and game director Richard Svensson, generalist artist Robin Eyre, and assistant community manager Josefin Berntsson as the three discussed how Hearth & Home came to be Valheim’s biggest update to date.

"It was originally thought to be just us tweaking the food system and adding some missing food recipes, I believe,” said Svensson. “And then it kind of exploded into something much more."

However, although Hearth & Home is Valheim's biggest update yet, Iron Gate also wanted to set expectations. Players shouldn't expect any fundamental changes to the way Valheim plays and some might not even feel like the game has changed much at all.

"It's still going to be the same Valheim," Eyre said. "I'm hoping, if everything works out correctly, people are just going to be super mad that it feels good. 'Like, you didn't do anything!' But we did."

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To get the most out of Hearth & Home, Svensson recommends players start a completely new save file, although he acknowledges that some might find it difficult to start over from scratch.

"I really hope people will instead of just continue playing with their own worlds actually create a new world and start from the beginning. Because we added and changed so much, so to get the best experience that's probably what you should do, and what we would recommend,” said Svensson. "I know a lot of people want to continue playing their old worlds but that's probably not the best thing to do if you want to experience all the new stuff."

Iron Gate hinted at many more surprises in store with Hearth & Home, including a new weapon, a shield, and one or two new skills, but players will have to "explore new areas" in order to find them.

Hearth & Home hits Valheim this Thursday, September 16.

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