The rumor surrounding Valheim birds stealing boats and sailing them across the sky has been officially shot down by developer Iron Gate Studios. Valheim, which takes place in the 10th Norse world that shares the game’s name, allows players to inhabit the role of a Viking who must bring order to the chaotic land.
Valheim is a survival game with open-world sandbox elements, including the ability to craft, build structures, and more. The depth of its gameplay has made it a standout hit in early 2021 despite its Early Access status, and the indie game has been consistently present in Steam’s Top Seller list since its initial surge in popularity thanks to it getting picked up by content creators. Despite its success, however, the game’s Early Access status has meant plenty of bugs, including one that saw players witness boats sailing across the sky in Valheim. Early theories speculated that this issue was caused by a bug in coding that allows bird to pilfer ships from players.
Unfortunately, that potentially hilarious bit of Valheim lore has been shot down by a trustworthy source – the game’s developer. Iron Gate Studios responded to an inquiry from PC Gamer about the Valheim birds stealing boats rumor and confirmed that wasn’t the cause, stating “we’ve had a few queries on this. Nope, I’m afraid it’s not real.” The developer didn’t provide any explanation for why the glitch is actually happening, however, so all that’s truly been clarified is that birds aren’t the cause for these ships being piloted above the waves.
As fans continue to try to dig into why the Valheim birds stealing boats rumor started in the first place, it’s a reminder that some glitches in games like this one take on a life of their own and become a source of community lore and in-jokes. While the rumor itself turned out to be false, plenty of early adopters of the game will remember it all the same, and these kinds of humorous urban legends often remain deeply embedded in an online game’s culture for months or years after its reported regardless of the veracity of those rumors.
With Valheim still getting its sea legs as an indie darling and Steam’s latest title to attract content creator interest, these kinds of events are net positives. Whatever real error has caused the Valheim birds stealing boats rumor to persist, it’s already contributed a funny moment to an already memorable game, and community discussion continues to be a major part of why Valheim‘s reach continues to expand after weeks in the spotlight.
