I don't know if you've noticed, but the games industry kind of sucks. Despite (and because of) the absurd amount of money games rake in, there's an ungodly degree of consolidation, the RAMpocalypse, and constant, huge waves of layoffs. Tim Cain, who co-created the original Fallout, uploaded a video to YouTube last Wednesday explaining why he thinks the current state of affairs is so terrible, if not terribly surprising.

"Why are things looking particularly bad right now? Well, the simple answer is 'cause they are bad right now," he said in the video. "Correction for [reckless investment during] COVID, hardware costs have shot up—a lot due to AI data centers—but investors are redirecting their money outside of the games industry, in some cases outside of the US … things had to contract. And that means people are gonna get laid off.

"These things will pass. They really will. I know if you're caught up in it, you're thinking, 'this is terrible.' They'll pass. That's the good news. The bad news is, new ones are gonna happen."

Cain was careful in his video to clarify that he understands things are uniquely bad now, but also said that things have been bad and will be bad again. "If you're somebody who got into the games industry in that time period, in the last five or 10 years, and you thought it was going to be a stable job that would see through 30 or 40 years, you assumed incorrectly. You're wrong."

He warned taking a decadeslong career like his own as evidence that gamdev work is reliable for up-and-comers was "survivorship bias." He recalled the stateside video game crash of 1983 as an example of what he introduced as his main point: "What's happening now isn't novel, it isn't new to the industry, and it's always gonna be around." As for why that is, he posited that games sit at the intersection between art and cutting-edge tech, both of which change rapidly as a rule.

For workers trying to weather industry conditions anyway, he suggested either honing an eclectic and broad set of skills or hyper-specializing and becoming a go-to guy in a particular niche. Notably, there is also a larger fight for labor rights in the industry trying to change some of these conditions for good: Blizzard Entertainment workers, for instance, just won what the Communications Workers of America called "a breakthrough first contract" for all the studio's game development teams and shared services. The Independent Workers of Great Britain, meanwhile, is currently rallying in support of Rockstar Games workers as the company grapples with union-busting allegations.

I'm back on my bullshit, and by bullshit I mean sinking another delightful 100 hours into Valheim—the Viking-themed survival crafting game that sits among my top five most-played games on Steam. With the launch of 1.0 and its new biome, the Deep North, now is the best time to round up your friends and return to ye olde old sea fortresses and swampy castles. A lot has changed in Odin's purgatory.

Or even better, forget your old worlds and start anew. The Deep North's endgame is its biggest draw, sure, but from start to finish, Valheim is a much better experience with boss reworks, small UI tweaks, and a few new cutscenes for a lovely pinch of world-building. You don't get a good look at the big picture by booting up old saves, and after diving into Valheim 1.0 with nothing but a wooden club and tattered leather loincloth, I can confidently say I don't regret it one bit.

Perhaps some of that is thanks to skipping last year's Call to Arms update—the patch where Iron Gate dramatically reworked the buffs received from slaying Valheim's giant gods—but now I'm glad I waited. As my total Valheim playtime rapidly approaches the 500-hour mark, I can't help but be impressed by how good a handful of small changes and new items make progression to the endgame feel.

Some of those changes stood out as soon as I entered the cozy Meadows of Valheim's starting zone, and I guarantee any survival-crafting, base-building menace like myself will be just as thrilled as I was to see Iron Gate's reworked building UI. Instead of endlessly scrolling through a sea of furniture, walls, and decor, I can finally search for and favorite individual pieces as a shortcut or create entire categories dedicated to my go-to tools. It's the first time in years I've enjoyed Valheim without a slew of QoL building mods.

I've already made biome-specific building collections for every zone too, and even have pared-down versions for quick access in emergencies. We're all guilty of picking fights with Fulings that we can't handle, but I like to pull the ol' Fortnite on 'em. That's code for building a box around myself and crying for help, by the way. Is that not how Fortnite works?

First-time Vikings or lapsed players like myself will also appreciate Valheim's smooth transition from the early-game Meadows to the fiery end-times hellscape of the Ashlands. With all of its pieces in alignment, you don't need your nose in a wiki or a posse of seasoned friends to figure out the next steps of the adventure.

There's a clearer big-picture path to Valheim we just didn't have before, and I'm finally comfortable recommending it as a version-complete build without all of the early access caveats.

The boss reworks from last year pair especially well with the breadcrumb directions added in 1.0's cutscenes, too. I won't spoil the whole thing for you, but historically, Valheim didn't do the best job of teaching its Vikings how to play. And I mean, it still doesn't deliver its secrets on a silver platter, but that's more fun when you've got a vague hint about where to go next and a series of boss buffs that all feel viable. Back in my day, we had seven boss buffs, and only one (or maybe two) of them felt viable.

Iron Gate also heard us loud and clear on the stingy storage space and how miserable navigating the foggy marble cliffs of the Mistlands felt. The Deep North update comes with upgradeable pocket space and a nifty grappling hook for safely traversing one of Valheim's most hostile zones—or so I'm told. You may be surprised to learn I've mostly used these upgrades for holding more decorations and slingshotting my Viking between taller building projects. What goes on in the Mistlands is none of my business.

This is all before you get to the Deep North, mind you. There are still plenty of secrets hidden in Valheim's last chapter, but it would be a shame to remember the journey to that point only by its early access builds. So whether you're playing for the first time or a seasoned Viking, I vote you all start the same way: naked in the Meadows, wielding a stick.

You can check out Valheim 1.0—out now on Steam.