Following the release of Stardew Valley‘s 1.6 update, creator Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone has stated he has no further plans for the farming sim, but hasn’t entirely ruled out giving it another update.
Speaking with UK outlet Metro on April 3, Barone acknowledged how previous updates were meant to be the last, yet he wound up adding more to Stardew Valley anyway. “While there’s nothing planned, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was more in the future,” he said. “Basing it off the past, any time I thought it was the last, it never was the last.”
The 1.6 update was a big one for Stardew Valley. After being in development for two and a half years, it launched on March 19 and brought far more than bug fixes. It introduced a bevy of new content: a new Meadowlands Farm type, new events like the Desert Festival, new outfits and dialogue for NPCs, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Barone’s hard work paid off, though, with Stardew Valley crushing its previous concurrent player record on Steam once the update became available.
Barone still plans to bring the update to the console and mobile versions of Stardew Valley but, once that’s done, he has every intention of returning to work on his next game, Haunted Chocolatier. Metro did press Barone for further details about Haunted Chocolatier, like its release date, but Barone is keeping coy about it. Given it’s another sim, albeit one with action-RPG elements, fans of Stardew Valley are bound to flock to it once it does come out.
While fans are hopeful Barone won’t completely abandon Stardew Valley and will return to it yet again with even more content, it’s understandable he’d want to move on and put all his energy into Haunted Chocolatier. After all, Stardew Valley launched back in 2016, meaning Barone’s been supporting it for over eight years.
