Valheim is coming to PC Game Pass in two weeks

The Valheim Game Pass release is closer than we thought: as developer Iron Gate revealed today, it's hitting the PC subscription service on Thursday, September 29. 

The news arrived during an Xbox indie showcase. Iron Gate previously announced that its hit Viking survival game would hit PC Game Pass sometime this year ahead of an Xbox Game Pass release in spring 2023. Many were expecting a holiday 2022 release on PC Game Pass, but we now know it's just two weeks away. However, the game's official Twitter account confirmed that the Xbox Game Pass version is still targeting "early 2023." 

Valheim is also coming to the Microsoft Store alongside its PC Game Pass release. The established Steam version of the game will support full crossplay with the Microsoft Store and PC Game Pass versions, and the Xbox Game Pass version will also be folded into the crossplay pool once it arrives. 

A public test patch for crossplay support also rolled out today. "This patch entails a couple of changes to prepare the game for the upcoming crossplay feature," a Steam post reads. "This will be necessary in order for you to be able to play Valheim with your friends who might get the game via other platforms." 

"Before we launch this update to the Default version of the game, we want to make sure to have a chance to discover bugs and adjust the balancing, to give you the best game experience possible," the devs explain. 

If you want, you can opt into this public test patch through the beta tab of Valheim's Steam properties menu. Just enter the code "yesimadebackups" and select the newly unlocked test branch. The patch also adds an interface for managing saves, "minor network optimizations" for hosting, and a "Join game" tab for favorite servers (with crossplay indicators). 

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