10 "Next Big Thing" Video Games That Disappeared Overnight

What’s remarkable about Valheim was just how good it was from the get-go, launching in early access in February 2021 and instantly becoming the most talked about game of the season. Iron Gate Studios, a team of five people, could not anticipate its 24-hour Steam peak of nearly 500,000 players.

Not only was Valheim a smooth experience, in both single and multiplayer, it was also an extremely exciting one. Taking classic survival game elements and applying them to a loop of preparing to overcome each different boss fight throughout the world was refreshing, giving players very clear goals of becoming a Viking warrior worthy of ascending to Valhalla.

Contrary to many games on this list, there wasn’t anything fundamentally wrong with Valheim or any resentment from players. Thousands simply sampled Valheim and moved on. At the height of its popularity, Iron Gate revealed a roadmap of updates that they eventually withdrew and had a more realistic approach, taking their small team into consideration.

In September 2021, the game had its first major update with Hearth & Home which saw a slight uptick of interest… but still infinitesimal compared to that first viral moment. Even with the game expecting to launch for consoles in 2023, Valheim is unlikely to explode the way that it did before.