So, you want to create a world!
By Höskuldur Sigurðarson, Founder & Allfather(CEO)
Hello world! I think that was the first project I did back in University when I started my Computer Science degree a little over 25 years ago. 😐
That period is actually almost a midpoint from where I am now and back when I started playing video games (old, much!). Back then, it never crossed my mind that I could make a living working in the video game industry, don´t know if that was ignorance or innocence, probably a bit of both to be fair to my younger self. But rewinding the clock back to that small boy of 6, when my dad bought my older brother and me a Sinclair Spectrum, and we started messing about with it. Bruce Lee, JetPack, JetSetWilly, SchoolDays, and many more spring to mind from those days. After almost 20 years in the industry, from Betware to CCP Games and Riot Games, I found a strong urge to create something myself.
Insert Polar Region Games
It started with a simple idea: create a video game, an action RPG, my favorite genre, set in Norse mythology. I know…YAWN! Aren't there a million of them out there, you might ask. Sure, there are also a million songs about love, a million books about the hero's journey, but somehow, there is a reason some things resonate deeply within the human soul, and I think our old myths and legends touch us more deeply than other stories do. So I wanted to retell them, but from our perspective, from the people that adopted them (I say adopted because human history is interwoven through the millennia, I won´t claim Óðinn or Þór or the other gods to be the original or definitive article).
Norse mythology will always be interesting and relevant. The stories speak to the human condition and emotions like suffering, joy, loss, hope, and love, as all good myths and stories do. Also, I am very neutral on the matter. Vikings are just super cool. 😁
SO! Building a game, nei, creating a world, Ashes of Yggdrasil, a play on words, the world tree is Ash, and when trees burn…you get the point. But building a game is tough, but building a whole world? That is very ambitious and mad. But that is the ultimate goal of what we are doing. There are just so many stories to tell and worlds to explore. And honestly? We wouldn’t have it any other way.
Why We’re Doing This
Every studio has a “why,” but ours came from something simple and personal: Passion. Connection. Belonging.
We grew up on a desolate island in the middle of the Atlantic, a place that forces you to develop grit, creativity, and a sense of humor about being constantly battered by the elements. Somewhere along the way, that environment shaped a team that wanted to make things together. Norse mythology is something every Icelander is taught and told about in school and Icelandic culture is also very strongly centered around family and friends and the local community, “Ber er hver að baki nema bróður eigi” (direct meaning would be “you are naked if you don't have friends/family around”) is something we say and that is something we keep focus on, we are not alone on this journey, we are building this together. But why Norse mythology? Because these stories run in our veins, they are bound in our language, how we think, and how we speak. Not in the Hollywood sense. Not in the “Vikings-only” sense. For example: “Að leysa úr læðingi” means to set someone or something free and “Læðingur” was the name of one of the bonds that bound (unsuccessfully) Fenrir.
So, because of that, we hope to reach deeper, into our sagas, obscure tales, regional variants, and the weird, wonderful bits that rarely make it into games. We want to retell the stories we care for and give them new life through interaction, challenge, and play. This mythology isn’t just a backdrop. It’s the foundation of the entire IP.
Every faction. Every season. Every character. Every god’s shifting agenda. Everything ties into the long arc of our universe: a world of stories shaped by player action.
Freyja Faction - Waters of Ragnarök
Building an IP, Not Just a Game
Our first title in the Ashes of Yggdrasil universe is called Waters of Ragnarök. We are starting our journey with a project that we felt was fitting for our Viking ancestors, a Norse Tactical Seafaring Action Game. Think of it as the entry point to a wider world, one we plan to grow, game after game, season after season, through:
Evolving lore shaped by the community
Myth-inspired factions reinterpreted for modern storytelling
A long-term narrative arc across multiple games
Art, music, and worldbuilding that reinforce a unified identity
The Althingi Initiative, where players influence direction and balance
We aren’t here to make “one game and done.” We’re here to build something special, ambitious, and enduring. A world you can return to again and again with each game and each season revealing new stories, lore, and quests.
Our unfair advantage isn’t money, or headcount, or any fancy tech. It’s perseverance and our connection with the subject matter. It’s growing up isolated in the North Atlantic and learning to make things work anyway. It’s grit, curiosity, and a refusal to give up even when the wind (literal or metaphorical) is in our face.
When we say we’re committed to this universe, we mean it. We’re building a studio designed to release more than one game, a place fueled by ambition, honesty, and a little madness.
The Journey So Far
Here’s what we’ve been busy with behind the scenes:
Developing the core pillars of the IP
Establishing faction identities based on the myth
Building early combat prototypes and a framework for future games
Defining our tone, values, and brand voice (yes, Tyr approves)
Developing our brand identity and core values as a company
Assembling a press kit to share with partners and the community soon
As well as building our first game, Waters of Ragnarök
Jörmungandur spawnling
What Comes Next
Over the coming months, we want to continue to share with you our ideas, and the devblogs will cover:
How we’re designing our factions
A look into our game dev philosophy
How we want to build up our community, and a bit about our Althingi initiative
Behind-the-scenes looks at art, music, lore, and worldbuilding
This journey is long, ambitious, and full of unknowns, like our ancestors who set out to explore and raid in the hopes of bringing back fortunes to their families. Like them, we’re doing it together, with honesty, courage, and a bit of playfulness along the way.
Thank you for being here at the beginning.
Skál,
Höskuldur
