Space, War, and Vikings oh my!

Daggerless Indie Dev Dispatch — Week of September 21, 2026

Marvel’s Wolverine launched on PS5 on September 15. Reviews landed in the high 70s. Online, the talk was scent trails, QTEs, and a linear campaign. On PC, WARDOGS reached two million copies and Valheim 1.0 is still in the top ten. And The Favorite redemption story for many keeps getting better, with No mans sky releasing a 10 year update and limited time community event.

WARDOGS

Bulkhead posted two million copies sold on September 15, five days into Early Access. Steam’s paid weekly chart for September 8–15 had WARDOGS at number one. Concurrent players are still in the mid-200,000s, sitting just under Apex on a typical afternoon. How to Fish is still in the top ten paid sellers. The servers held after the first-week spike.

Valheim 1.0

Iron Gate left Early Access on September 9 after five and a half years. Coffee Stain put the game on PS5 and Switch 2 the same day, with crossplay, and shipped the Deep North with it. Lifetime sales were already reported above 17 million. Twelve days later Valheim is still a top-ten Steam game, with recent 24-hour peaks north of 280,000. Players came back once the last biome and the new platforms were in.

The rest of the floor

Hello Games shipped No Man’s Sky Cosmos (7.0) on September 9, free on every platform the game already lives on. Space itself got the overhaul: a local star map, salvageable hulks, orbital bases, station ownership, and a tenth-anniversary expedition. Ten years after a rough launch, the studio is still adding systems instead of selling a sequel.

Jagex took RuneScape: Dragonwilds to 1.0 on September 15 and shipped it to PS5, Xbox, and Switch 2 with crossplay, the first RuneScape title on consoles. The studio said it sold more than 1.5 million copies in Early Access. Steam reviews are Very Positive. Concurrent numbers are a fraction of Valheim’s.

Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter, Trine 6, and Endless Legend 2 1.0 all landed September 17. Aniimo, a free creature collector from Pawprint Studio, peaked at 168,260 concurrent on Steam and landed Mixed to Mostly Positive reviews over monetization. Happy Wheels arrived on Steam today as a paid, ad-free desktop build. Graveyard Keeper 2 is out tomorrow. Woodo, Dressmaker, and TCG Card Shop Simulator 1.0 were the quieter PC drops.

Smaller wins

Coffee Stain, Raw Fury, and Ghost Ship set a Big Break Showcase for September 29. Black Salt Games opened a new indie label, Team Trifold. Kenney’s All-in-1 asset bundle is coming to Steam with a companion browser.

Industry Notes

• Heart Machine, the Hyper Light Drifter studio, laid off nearly everyone after a publisher pulled funding on an unannounced game. Founder Alx Preston said he is not sure yet how the studio survives.
• DrinkBox pushed Blighted to 2027.
• Tokyo Game Show ran four days instead of five after Typhoon Dujuan canceled Monday. Selected Indie 80 still put 80 games on the floor from more than 1,500 submissions.
• PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct ran 36-plus titles on September 20, including Stronghold 4 and a Thief remaster.
• Kojima said Sony dropping Physint was a serious blow. Xbox has the project. Bill Skarsgård is attached as lead. He has not confirmed a PS5 version.
• Bungie said it will restore vaulted Destiny 2 campaigns, destinations, and raids.
• Activision circulated research putting cheating at an $8.5 billion industry. 69 percent of online multiplayer studios called it a significant problem.
• Steam Party-Based RPG Fest ends today. Autumn Sale starts October 1. Control Resonant and Silent Hill: Townfall both land September 24.

Free Tools & Assets

• Kenney.nl — Tiny Factory is up. All-in-1 is coming to Steam.
• itch.io free assets and OpenGameArt.
• Epic Fab limited-time free through September 22: Sharur’s Normandy Village + PCG Plants, Sierra Division’s Industrial Infrastructure, VRhinoFX’s RPG Crafting & Environment VFX. Claim at fab.com/limited-time-free.

Daggerless Verdict

Wolverine sold on a character and an installed base. WARDOGS held after a two-million-copy week. Valheim held after a real 1.0. Hello Games is still patching space a decade later. If you launch on Steam this fall, match the store page to the build, ship a demo people can finish, and keep the wishlist work going after the trailer week.