Iron Gate has revealed the release window for their next major update, the Ashlands. In a new video series they started, the developers explained a little more about the inspiration and work process when it comes to a new biome.

Whenever the developers are working on a new biome, they don’t just want to reskin old content. Instead, each area will get new enemies, loots, and even new gameplay mechanics that complement the game. They don’t want to stray away from the core concept of what makes Valheim so special. This leads to scrapping a lot of cool ideas the devs have as they “we don’t want to be building a whole new game in each biome.”

The progression between the starting zone and the first biome, the Black Forest, is something the developers look back on a lot while developing a new area. Those Biomes worked very well off each other as the latter one introduced many new features like mining, dungeons, and more which were at that point in the game completely new. 

The concept for the Ashlands started around December 2022, shortly after the release of the Mistlands. 

While the new biome is blazing hot, there are plants that survive on this terrain, such as the ones that have dark green leaves with fiery red tips.

We also got a look at the new armor set we can craft, the helmet had giant horns and the body part looks a lot like chain mail.

The developers wanted to do something different with the enemies in this fiery biome than what most other games have, which are fire demons or golems. Instead, they wanted to use a more familiar type to fit the Valheim theme, and the undead were chosen for this job. One of the revealed enemies is the Charred that loosely resembles the Terminator T-800 from the Terminator movie.

As we already know, Mistlands introduced magic. The Ashlands is said to build off this mechanic with new tools like a magical crossbow turret that will protect your home from invading monsters.

During the development of the upcoming biome, they have been more open to sharing what the team is up to compared to the Mistlands, and they want to continue giving us more insights next year.

The good news is that we finally have a release window for this new major update. Ashlands is stated to be released during the first half of 2024, with a playtest starting not long before launch. 

Are you ready to jump into the Ashlands? Let me know in the comments.