With Valheim 1.0 still in the works, spinning up a new studio feels like quite the choice, but that’s what these Iron Gate devs have done. My first thought when I saw Grip Jaw was ‘what the hell?’ I immediately recognized the studio’s lineup of devs, which include current Valheim creative director Robin Eyre, producer Andreas Tomasson, and head of business development Emilia Oscarsson. How, I asked, are the trio somehow working on a brand new Lethal Company-inspired game, as a brand new developer collective, while simultaneously pushing towards the hit survival game’s 1.0 launch? The pressure is already on: 2026 is the year that puts Valheim back on the map, although I’d argue it never left. What on earth is happening?! After previewing the team’s latest endeavor (a chaotic co-op dungeon crawler called Begraved) with Eyre, Oscarsson, and Grip Jaw community manager Jade Mcintosh, I finally got to ask that burning question: “why a new studio?”

 Why did these Valheim devs casually spin up a new studio while working on 1.0? “Because it’s fun.”  PCGamesN