Valheim sails onto Switch 2 for multiplayer Viking fun later this year

Valheim, the Viking survival game from Iron Gate AB, is coming to the Nintendo Switch 2 later in 2026. 

Nintendo made the announcement during the Nintendo Partner Direct, with a gameplay showcase showing off the strong combat, survival, and crafting elements that have given Valheim a steady flow of players throughout early access.

It’s very much like a Viking Minecraft, though certainly with more impressive combat mechanics and base building. This makes it a much more interesting alternative to getting your friends together for some Animal Crossing on your Switch.

Much like its PC release, Valheim’s Nintendo Switch 2 version will allow for up to 10 players to play together to explore, conquer, and build in Valheim’s procedurally generated world. 

At the moment, Valheim features full crossplay between the PC and Xbox consoles. However, developer Iron Gate AB has confirmed that this will extend to the Nintendo Switch 2. 

Switching gears

The developers also confirmed that this iteration of Valheim will have a mouse mode, touch screen support, and gyroscope aiming, giving the Switch 2 version plenty of extra features over the confirmed PS5 release announced last year.

The Nintendo Switch 2 version will likely release around the same time as Valheim leaves early access on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. 

Right now, there’s no full confirmation for that timeline, but according to a Valheim Developer Q&A stream in June 2025, the final update of early access, Deep North, should be arriving in 2026.

Once the final update for Valheim has been confirmed, we will likely get confirmation of the Nintendo Switch 2 and PS5 releases at the same time, allowing all Valheim players, old and new, to play with each other, no matter the platform.