An unlucky Valheim player's large base disintegrated before their very eyes upon visiting it after applying an update to the popular survival sandbox. Valheim initially launched into early access on PC in 2021 to massive praise, selling five million copies during its first month live, and crossing ten million in mid-2022. Earlier this year the Coffee Stain Studios-published survival phenomenon made its way to Xbox consoles.

The procedurally generated world of Valheim is home to an array of different biomes from pleasant plains and meadows to dark forests and murky swamps. As a survival sandbox title, players must gather resources to build tools and, more importantly, shelters like huts or larger bases. Survival games like Valheim typically receive constant updates throughout the game's lifecycle, some of them even leaning into live service territory with seasonal events or expansions that permanently alter or add to the game world. Valheim is no different. As an early access title it sees a steady flow of smaller updates as well as the occasional big one which brings new areas like the Mistlands or the upcoming Ashlands to the world.

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Taking updates into account alongside the game's procedural generation and the world of Valheim is constantly changing. TikTok user treylox6704 posted a clip of them watching their now floating Valheim base crumbling to the ground piece by piece after applying an update that changed the game's landscape. Since players can't build floating structures in Valheim, the update likely ripped the ground right out from underneath the base causing it to disintegrate in real time upon its proud architect spawning into the game world.

There have been other Valheim players who've visited their bases after updating only to find that they've disappeared due to terrain alterations. Many commenters underneath the post expressed that they would've instantly uninstalled Valheim if this had happened to them. Others decried early access titles, talking about how games like Valheim are ultimately unfinished, thus prone to stability issues where players can lose their structures.

Players can grow attached to their creations in survival games like Valheim, especially buildings which serve as shelter from the dangers of the game world. With Valheim still in early access, the jury's still out on when players will see a more stable 1.0 version of the popular survival title become available. It's possible that the developers could be targeting 2023 for the 1.0 release. Now that Summer Game Fest is right around the corner, perhaps Valheim players will get an update on when to expect the game's full release where mishaps like this are hopefully far less likely to happen.

Valheim is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

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