The Valheim developers bought a real horse

The incredible success of Valheim (6.8 million sales and counting) has led to big changes for developer Iron Gate Studios. While the team is still working remotely, it's finding some swish new offices, hiring a bunch of new talent... and now it's decided to buy a pony (aka a Small Horse).

The latest development update reads: "We have in a way already received a new team member, say hello to Valheim the horse! We collaborated with our friends at Skövde ryttarförening (Sköve riding club) to get them a new horse (technically pony) for their riding school. Isn’t she a beauty? You will definitely see more of her in the future. (This does not mean that we’ll introduce horses to the game, but it does mean that Iron Gate will take field trips to the stables to meet our four legged colleague)."

Check out this pony!

As well as detailing some minor tweaks, such as an overhaul to harpoon mechanics, the post goes on to talk about the progress on Valheim's next major update, called Hearth and Home. 

"The update is starting to take shape and the past month has been very productive, with many new items and mechanics being finalized. There are of course many more things we want to make before the update is released, as we don’t want to rush it." The post adds that the studio won't set a release date until it's "in a state that we can proudly present," and promises more updates in June.

It also includes a couple of zoomed-in teaser images, so if you want a very close look at a bit of fencing, boy you're in luck.

While the official updates are obviously a big deal, one aspect of Valheim's ongoing success has been the rapid rise of a large and creative modding community. Whether you want to design massive ships or just take a rip on Odin's mighty magic bong, players are building incredible things on its foundation. What I'm saying is: expect a Valheim the Pony mod any day now.