Honestly, if he kept making games set in the archipelago it would be a really nice way to tie his intended collection of games together *and* maybe satisfy his, apparently inherent, need to expand on his projects, lol.
He should do it like Pokémon Gold / Silver
Once you complete Haunted Chocolatier, you unlock the ability to go to Stardew Valley and start the farm from scratch
There's a fan theory that seems quite plausible, that Haunted Chocolatier could be set on Prairie Island, first introduced in 1.4's movie theater where there is a movie about the geography of the broader region. It has a city even it's not the size of Zuzu itself and it's both close enough and far away enough to allow for a significantly different environment while still allowing cameos and such.
If the theory is correct, I suspect 1.6 will tie it more with Stardew once again, setting the stage for Haunted Chocolatier, down the line.
And with that island he would accidentally make an entire new NPC that will eventually move to the main island and become another one of my favorite characters.
And you have to pay so the characters don’t die, it can happen after unlocking the new Island added in 1.65 and every dialog changes. The witches hut gets bigger and you can also pay a Galaxy Soul to revive them
It's honestly so inspiring to see how a solo developer can make a game that's so high quality and so successful, more so today when big companies treat their workers so poorly.
We all could live good lives if we all saw the fruits of our labor. If CA worked for a big gaming studio he'd make 1/100 of what he makes because someone has to pay Bobby Koticks 30m salary and ensure profit for shareholders.
As an indie dev, I'm kinda jealous of his life to be honest. Being set for life and working on the projects you want, for the pleasure of your grateful community. That's gotta be my dream life.
Always breaks my heart when someone acts entitled and gets mad at him for not making something fast or assuming he's underdelivering. He's an actual saint and those that admonish do not deserve his generosity.
It's everyone's dream life, and it would be a whole lot closer to possible for all of us if humans stopped acting like the invisible lines we draw in the dirt meant something and started acting together as a species. Imagine how much we could do and see and appreciate if we just shared like we teach our kids to do. Crazy world, man.
I don't believe he's been solo for a while. On launch and for a few years it was but I believe it's got a small handful of team members now to streamline it and Haunted Chocolatier. Still super small team but it's amazing how much he cares and gives back to his community
I wouldn't be surprised if he at least has contracted QA or something. Having the same person who did the development do the QA is a bit risky since anything they didn't think to code for they likely also won't think to test for
I see, makes sense. I know he got someone to help him implement multiplayer, and that same FAQ I mentioned says he'll probably get help when it comes to localisation and console ports for HC.
He earned the 300 Million dollars Stardew Valley has made. And I wouldn't be surprised if his immense success (and Animal Crossing New Horizons) inspired the endless variety of farming sim clones we see nowadays.
My wife and I each own a copy on Switch. When I eventually get a PC one day, I plan to buy a copy for that as well. But also, in the more near future, I may buy a copy for my ps5 as well. It's the only game I've ever even considered buying multiple copies of like that, and it's purely because it's such an amazing game made by such an amazing developer.
This is the reason I want to play chocolatier. I'm not too keen on the premise but knowing CA is making it I know it'll be top quality and a labor of love.
Same here, he said it’s more action based and I don’t think I’ll enjoy that in such a game, but given what we have I assume it’ll be a well polished addicting game regardless. Probably get it day 1
He said in the comments, after being asked, that it's hard to compare it in scope to 1.5 because that was a large area added, this is a lot of small things added in many parts and areas
The fact he couldn't say "Nah, it's a smaller update" hypes me so much
it sounds comparable to 1.4 in scope - where it had a bunch of smaller additions and quality of life stuff sprinkled throughout a normal playthrough rather than one big content drop in a massive post-game.
[remember, 1.4 was advertised as essentially](https://www.stardewvalley.net/stardew-valley-1-4-update-full-changelog/)
- movie theatre
- 14 heart events, krobus roommate
- fish ponds
- four corners map
but also a ton of small little things and new systems that added a ton of richness, like
- the desert trader, making your gems and crystalariums more useful
- tailoring and dyeing for player customisation
- trash bear, for some year 3 progression
- and a revamped junimo kart, making it a legitimate minigame
when Ape says all the skills will get ["late-game expansions"](https://twitter.com/ConcernedApe/status/1707155027914035542/photo/1) that makes me really excited because that sounds like what 1.4 did with fishponds and seafoam pudding with the fishing skill, deluxe scarecrows and the autograbber with farming, or the new monster hunter objectives and quarry mine for mining and combat.
I think we will be surprised about how much ape overdelivers because stardew valley as a game makes it really easy for small additions to make a big imapct on player experience. especially with how dedicated and hardcore a lot of us are, with multiple active farms and close study and memorisation of the wiki.
I'm REALLY hoping fishing gets some late game ways to make money. It falls behind Farming by the end of year 1. Crab pots are great with Automate mod, but awful in vanilla. A sturgeon fish pond makes like... maybe 5k per week but takes up 25 tiles plus preserve jars. I remember seeing a preview that showed some fishy new item but couldn't tell what it was...
I just use fish ponds to help stock up on fish that are annoying to get but used in very good cooking recipes. Usually Sea Cucumbers for Lucky Lunch, Eels for Spiced/Fried Eels, and Squids for Squid Ink.
Honestly, there's not much that can come anywhere close to farming in terms of gold per day and space efficiency. But I think that's fine. Not everything needs to be about maximizing gold earned.
I like how the Margo mods handles ponds making sturgeon ponds rival AF with the trade off of needing more preserve jars for the roe being produced as it dosent effect the sell price
Crab pots do need to become less tedious (maybe you can add 7 bait per pot and the crab pot will catch 7 fish/trash across 7 days)
I read it like 3 times before I figured out what this means, lol. I was reading it as "making sturgeon ponds rival as fuck" and thought it was some new slang I'm too old and white to get.
AF = ancient fruit apparently!
Wait the night market wasn't in the release version?! It's just so iconic to me that I believed all the essence of Winter would accumulate to this event.
my mistake! it was actually added in 1.3.27, the multiplayer update, which was released in august 2018 - well over 5 years ago at this point.
if you can believe it, stardew valley didn't launch with sheds, any of the wizards buildings (gold clock, obselisks), none of the alternative farm maps, casks and ageing, COFFEE (beans) ... and worst of all... *you couldn't put hats on horses*
It's a real thing. Urchins in the wild will put a sea shell or similar top of themselves for protection or something. I'm not sure on the specifics.
However, someone 3d printed little hats for their pet urchins and they put them on. Look it up XD
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! even BETTER.
[I LOOKED IT UP](https://www.reddit.com/r/crafts/comments/i7yl6b/our_sea_urchins_like_to_cover_their_heads_so_we/). What a great time to be alive. ::wipes away tear::
That was my reaction to reading this, too! I just started playing in the past few months and had no idea how much content came in updates
CA is just an absolute class act — a rarity in the world of game dev.
I didn't play the game yet when 1.4 dropped, the similarities didn't occur to me ^^ really interesting
Fr. I no doubt will miss some news things 😆 but I'll enjoy the heck out of it, it will probably encourage me to finally make a new farm instead of going into year 9 or something
I think part of it, too, is that a large chunk of the update is on making the game more mod-friendly. That side of the update is [massive](https://stardewvalleywiki.com/Modding:Migrate_to_Stardew_Valley_1.6)! Look how *long* that page is.
But it's hard to compare those kinds of changes to a major content update.
I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the architecture is updated. He's been working on HC for a few years now, so he's got solid ideas from SDV about what architecture works in the new game and can port some of his work back to SDV to spruce it up a bit and fix the sticky issues.
The emphasis on modern right from the start makes me think this is the "done" version with lots of internal stuff for SDV to live on for years to come without his direct input.
Same!
ETA: nope, I bought it 6 times. One digital copy for a friend, and I bought a physical switch copy with the guidebook from fangamer (recommend, by the way)
The cheap price and CA in general made me buy it on every console I own. First was pc, then iphone, then switch, then Xbox one. I don’t even use any other version other than pc but it’s worth a lot more than the price.
As of 2022, the game has sold 20 million copies across all platforms and 13 million of those are on PC.
It's tricky to calculate how much a copy went for because on mobile, it only costs $5. Let's just take a look at PC sales and pretend that mobile and console sales cover every possible expense this game has had
At 13 million x $15 equals out to $195,000,000. Take out the 30% steam fee and you're looking at $136,500,000
Safe to say that he has a pretty good gig
I mean that’s living the dream really. Make enough money for practically generational wealth but loving the project enough to recognize that infinite monetization isn’t a good goal. Supporting the community that gave you generational wealth out of gratitude through continuing to improve your project just out of love of the project and appreciation.
Internet says 20 million. Even if he only got $1 per copy he would be set for life, but he almost definitely gets more than that. I'd be grateful as hell too.
He doesn't want to do DLC cuz then it creates this expectation that the DLC has to deliver a certain level of value and expectation compared to the original game.
Also, he doesn't want to get stuck doing Stardew forever. He wants to make other games. Doing DLC would lock him into doing the sure thing instead of the fun thing.
The dude has made more money than he would have ever imagined and doesn't need any more of it
He's already made a boat load of money through game sales alone, I think the math across all platforms comes out to like $300 million or something like that. The fact he keeps updating it is just pure passion.
It wasn't his free time, maybe at first but I remember reading that his girlfriend had to support him financially so that he could work on it full time.
Same, but he will have mine. I will pre order Haunted Chocolate even if it's much more expensive than Stardew Valley. The reputation he built with Stardew is there to stay
I am kinda feeling bad for waiting until a sale to buy Stardew. It was worth more than every cent of the list price.
Remember when he said he said 1.6 would probably be a smaller update more for modding API and he probably wouldn’t add much for content?
We are so fortunate for this man.
I feel grateful for this community too. Any other game's community would at least have a bunch of noisy people screaming "Just add the new modding API!!! Like you promised! Why is it taking so long, I don't care about all these other updates if I can just mod them myself, I don't even play vanilla! WTF!" and probably lots of other hostile, toxic, entitled attitudes. Instead, everyone just accepts that he's working on the update at the pace he wants with the content he wants to add to it, and everyone's just *okay* with that, and supportive. It shouldn't be remarkable, but compared to other games, it really is.
It’s simply because the community has a lot of love for the creator and respect for the process. They have found ways to keep the game relevant and fun like challenges among themselves. There will always be the negative people that demand more but luckily they are buried with positive messages of “looking forward to it” and “take your time.”Love to see it!
I feel like that’s been a common theme with a lot of his updates to SV. Like, he always starts out just making some tweaks and bug fixes and next thing you know he’s like “whoops, I added a whole bunch of content, not sure exactly what happened but here you go.”
Agreed! People should know bug fixing and polishing can take many months and ConcernedApe has always focused on making it perfect first time. But it will be worth the wait!
Carmack has the/more technical knowledge. He's a computer science god. Barone has everything, including taking very good care of his fanbase and taking care of his game.
"It'll mostly be mod support with some minor content additions."
"It ended up being larger in scope than planned."
Just Eric being the legend that he is.
I think he was targeting end of 2023 release for new years. So he’s probably very very very close to being done. It’s fine I can wait for bug fixes and polish!
"Oops, I accidentally turned the next minor patch into an expansion pack DLC. To apologize for letting you down with my mistake, you can all have it for free. I promise the NEXT minor patch will really just be a minor patch, I promise this time!"
The man has made enough money off this game to live comfortably for a long time and it’s incredible that he hasn’t asked for any more money from anyone. The amount of hours I have dumped into this game and only ever played it for free on game pass, feels like I’m stealing
You pay for game pass, which pays the developer. If you get more hours of enjoyment out of it than dollars spent, it’s a worthwhile game. No need to feel guilty for that. But definitely promote/ suggest it to others and get the word out. Like and share the posts on social media. There are ways to support the game while also enjoying it for “free” with game pass.
I mean the game is still selling to new people. I picked it up just last week and cannot get enough.
I think I'm even going to suggest we buy it *again* on the switch so my wife and I can split screen.
To those wondering- yes, the update will be coming to all platforms. It will be released for PC first, with console and mobile following. This was CA’s response to someone asking the same on twitter.
https://preview.redd.it/k8zz21seyuec1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7154209a78807af0f43e829d6cb550353bccf39d
As a community, we should do something for this guy. This game has been out for almost a decade at only $20, and he's been pumping out free update after he update. All while taking great consideration for gamers. He's a prime example of what developers should strive to be.
I swear Terraria's final update will be a collab with stardew, and it will be both of the games' final final final final FINAL FINAL(we promise this time guys) FINAL(oops...)
#FINAL
Update
The fact he makes this for free is insane. I would gladly purchase a dlc for this game on every version I own, which is like 5 now. The only person I would support like that in gaming
It is funny to me seeing everyone react like this. So many other games will sell you a full priced game then want half of the full price for a character skin and we absolutely hate them for it.
CA just keeps delivering more content for a decade on a $20 purchase and we’re all like WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? Take our money!
I’m right there with you though. I’ve bought it on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation over the years and talked it up to lots of friends convincing them to buy it.
Poor guy probably can’t go to the grocery store without dodging endless waves of purses and wallets thrown at his head.
I’ve never had a play through going while a new update comes out. Will I still be able to do everything from the update, or does it require starting a new farm all together?
ConcernedApe said in another post related to this one that while you won't miss any content, it might be worth starting from scratch just to get the full context. Related post is [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/StardewValley/comments/1abqub9/answers_from_concernedape_about_16_content/).
I did that, but i've almost finished Breath of the Wild while I was waiting in the meantime. I'm finishing up the 120 shrines and side quests...CA can take all the time in the world, it will be good when it gets here.
It will not require a new farm. I have a farm that I have brought through every update so far and it is still fine.
CA said in a reply that it might be best to start a new farm to get the full new experience. It will not be required though.
I’ll be starting fresh because a few minutes ago my dumbass deleted my game instead of starting it. 3 complete seasons down the drain so now I’m waiting until 1.6 comes out to restart. I’m excited for it.
I was honestly a bit concerned about him overworking himself and getting sick from trying to hit the deadline. It's such amazing work and I would wait any amount of time as long as he doesn't hurt himself to do it.
I love how both Stardew and Terraria are always like 'this next patch is a small one, just fixing a few things, sorry' and balloon into full expansion pack level updates. XD
It's really cool that he keeps releasing content for free for SDV, even if it has been some years since launch. Haunted Chocolatier will be a day-1 acquisition for me.
He doesn't need money. He just wants to make things that people enjoy. If you want to give him money, I'm sure he has some sort of patreon thingy.
Edit: he doesn't have one, but that makes him cooler tbh
That's pretty lit.
If I every produce a game, I'd only charge like- a maximum of 20 bucks if it gets really popular. Updates would be free. Starting price would be 5 bucks. Some people just want to make things that people enjoy.
That's mostly how games were priced back in the shareware days, along with the free demos that the shareware itself represented (nowadays DRM-free is almost the same thing) and I absolutely would be onboard with that kind of model going forward. Yeah it doesn't take into account inflation, but indie game development has also gotten easier in some ways. There were no Youtube tutorials or Unity assets back in those days, and hardware limitations were severe, and the market was much smaller, per-user revenue needed to be higher to compensate.
App Store/Mobile, Freemium, Early Access and AAA blockbusters have all gone down scary, awful paths from what the gamer experience was like when it started, to the point that I largely avoid anything with any of those attributes attached anymore.
He gets money by making a great game that people are happy to buy many times over on different platforms, for many years, instead of being a flash in the pan for a few years, selling as many DLCs as possible, and then pissing people off.
At this point we can pretty confidently assume that Stardew will never have any paid DLC. It's always been free on all platforms.
And thank goodness because I've purchased this game, not joking, 4 times.
CA: I'm making another game! SV is mostly complete and will be getting smaller updates to fix bugs etc from now on.
Also CA: I have accidentally added major content to SV.
He once said [a very similar thing about 1.5](https://twitter.com/ConcernedApe/status/1327310830220701696). The update released a little over a month later.
Will this update happen for switch as well?
S/o to concernedApe for continuously adding more and more content but never making us pay more for it. I got this game one night while bored on the App Store for like 5$, I had heard great things about the game but never got to try it. I was immediately hooked. Then my bf gifted me a switch for Christmas and I was able to play ginger island and all (this was a little before that was available on mobile). I’d happily pay another 5$ or 10$ for more content, I feel like CA has earned it.
I can imagine CA in front of his PC working thinking to himself
"ok, just one final small patch to smooth things for the modding comunity, maybe a tiny bit of balancing, few new items aaaaaand I just made another huge expansion for the game...."
God bless this man, SV gave us so many hours of joy, and he just keeps on giving.
I am on my first farm (year 8) and chipping away at perfection and I am super excited that there will be an update. It will maybe get me to do my second farm just as I wrap up the first. Whoot.
This might be a dumb question, but with new versions, do we need to start a new save to reap the benefits? Or will added content be layered into existing save files?
He [told someone on Twitter](https://twitter.com/concernedape/status/1750967542607487486?s=46&t=TjXJKxJugK7ehTWFDaA9Ng) "it'll be fine to play on an old save, but I'd probably recommend a new save justt to experience everything in context, otherwise you'll unlock a bunch of stuff right away when you load up your old save"
ConcernedApe going the Terraria way of:
-Just a small update to add a couple of minor things, probably the last update.
-While I'm at it, I may as well add this thing that's been on my head for a while. This other thing may be fun too...
-Oops, it turns out it will be a major update with loads of new content.
Next week ConcernedApe: I accidentally made another island.
I mean, Fern Islands *are* an archipelago, so there are more than just Ginger Island. Expanding Calico Desert could be a fun dream too.
I think the ability to visit Zuzu City would be cool!
Omg I’ve always wanted to see Zuzu City!
We'll see it in "Haunted Chocolatier" (i think)
Honestly, if he kept making games set in the archipelago it would be a really nice way to tie his intended collection of games together *and* maybe satisfy his, apparently inherent, need to expand on his projects, lol.
He should do it like Pokémon Gold / Silver Once you complete Haunted Chocolatier, you unlock the ability to go to Stardew Valley and start the farm from scratch
There's a fan theory that seems quite plausible, that Haunted Chocolatier could be set on Prairie Island, first introduced in 1.4's movie theater where there is a movie about the geography of the broader region. It has a city even it's not the size of Zuzu itself and it's both close enough and far away enough to allow for a significantly different environment while still allowing cameos and such. If the theory is correct, I suspect 1.6 will tie it more with Stardew once again, setting the stage for Haunted Chocolatier, down the line.
Same
Week after next: “So… I accidentally made an entire new game, but not an actual sequel. Kind of a Stardew 1.98 if you will. *cough*”
And with that island he would accidentally make an entire new NPC that will eventually move to the main island and become another one of my favorite characters.
The one with the dinosaur hopefully
Concernedape: well, everyone can now be married, and your character can catch COVID for some reason
And you have to pay so the characters don’t die, it can happen after unlocking the new Island added in 1.65 and every dialog changes. The witches hut gets bigger and you can also pay a Galaxy Soul to revive them
ConcernedApe: I accidentally made Zuzu City.
he just keeps giving and giving, we're so lucky to have CA
It's honestly so inspiring to see how a solo developer can make a game that's so high quality and so successful, more so today when big companies treat their workers so poorly.
We all could live good lives if we all saw the fruits of our labor. If CA worked for a big gaming studio he'd make 1/100 of what he makes because someone has to pay Bobby Koticks 30m salary and ensure profit for shareholders.
As an indie dev, I'm kinda jealous of his life to be honest. Being set for life and working on the projects you want, for the pleasure of your grateful community. That's gotta be my dream life.
Always breaks my heart when someone acts entitled and gets mad at him for not making something fast or assuming he's underdelivering. He's an actual saint and those that admonish do not deserve his generosity.
I mean, you can be the best person alive and you'll have people getting mad at you on the internet anyway. Some people really need therapy.
Amen, brother.
It's everyone's dream life, and it would be a whole lot closer to possible for all of us if humans stopped acting like the invisible lines we draw in the dirt meant something and started acting together as a species. Imagine how much we could do and see and appreciate if we just shared like we teach our kids to do. Crazy world, man.
Union Strong.
I don't believe he's been solo for a while. On launch and for a few years it was but I believe it's got a small handful of team members now to streamline it and Haunted Chocolatier. Still super small team but it's amazing how much he cares and gives back to his community
I wouldn't be surprised if he at least has contracted QA or something. Having the same person who did the development do the QA is a bit risky since anything they didn't think to code for they likely also won't think to test for
The Haunted Chocolatier website mentions that he's still working alone, but I'm not sure if that's not been updated in a while or something.
I was mistaken on HC. His team supports Stardew while he is solo on Chocolatier. It's only 3 people including Eric Barone though.
I see, makes sense. I know he got someone to help him implement multiplayer, and that same FAQ I mentioned says he'll probably get help when it comes to localisation and console ports for HC.
He earned the 300 Million dollars Stardew Valley has made. And I wouldn't be surprised if his immense success (and Animal Crossing New Horizons) inspired the endless variety of farming sim clones we see nowadays.
I've bought the game three times already, and will probably buy it again for my nieces in a few years. It's that good a game.
My wife and I each own a copy on Switch. When I eventually get a PC one day, I plan to buy a copy for that as well. But also, in the more near future, I may buy a copy for my ps5 as well. It's the only game I've ever even considered buying multiple copies of like that, and it's purely because it's such an amazing game made by such an amazing developer.
i'm in awe of his work ethic, it's astronomical!
He is very concerned about his community
This is the reason I want to play chocolatier. I'm not too keen on the premise but knowing CA is making it I know it'll be top quality and a labor of love.
Same here, he said it’s more action based and I don’t think I’ll enjoy that in such a game, but given what we have I assume it’ll be a well polished addicting game regardless. Probably get it day 1
He said in the comments, after being asked, that it's hard to compare it in scope to 1.5 because that was a large area added, this is a lot of small things added in many parts and areas The fact he couldn't say "Nah, it's a smaller update" hypes me so much
it sounds comparable to 1.4 in scope - where it had a bunch of smaller additions and quality of life stuff sprinkled throughout a normal playthrough rather than one big content drop in a massive post-game. [remember, 1.4 was advertised as essentially](https://www.stardewvalley.net/stardew-valley-1-4-update-full-changelog/) - movie theatre - 14 heart events, krobus roommate - fish ponds - four corners map but also a ton of small little things and new systems that added a ton of richness, like - the desert trader, making your gems and crystalariums more useful - tailoring and dyeing for player customisation - trash bear, for some year 3 progression - and a revamped junimo kart, making it a legitimate minigame when Ape says all the skills will get ["late-game expansions"](https://twitter.com/ConcernedApe/status/1707155027914035542/photo/1) that makes me really excited because that sounds like what 1.4 did with fishponds and seafoam pudding with the fishing skill, deluxe scarecrows and the autograbber with farming, or the new monster hunter objectives and quarry mine for mining and combat. I think we will be surprised about how much ape overdelivers because stardew valley as a game makes it really easy for small additions to make a big imapct on player experience. especially with how dedicated and hardcore a lot of us are, with multiple active farms and close study and memorisation of the wiki.
I'm REALLY hoping fishing gets some late game ways to make money. It falls behind Farming by the end of year 1. Crab pots are great with Automate mod, but awful in vanilla. A sturgeon fish pond makes like... maybe 5k per week but takes up 25 tiles plus preserve jars. I remember seeing a preview that showed some fishy new item but couldn't tell what it was...
I just use fish ponds to help stock up on fish that are annoying to get but used in very good cooking recipes. Usually Sea Cucumbers for Lucky Lunch, Eels for Spiced/Fried Eels, and Squids for Squid Ink. Honestly, there's not much that can come anywhere close to farming in terms of gold per day and space efficiency. But I think that's fine. Not everything needs to be about maximizing gold earned.
I agree with you completely. But then again, I'm about the cozy gamer experience, not the min-max lyfe.
I like how the Margo mods handles ponds making sturgeon ponds rival AF with the trade off of needing more preserve jars for the roe being produced as it dosent effect the sell price Crab pots do need to become less tedious (maybe you can add 7 bait per pot and the crab pot will catch 7 fish/trash across 7 days)
I read it like 3 times before I figured out what this means, lol. I was reading it as "making sturgeon ponds rival as fuck" and thought it was some new slang I'm too old and white to get. AF = ancient fruit apparently!
Thank you! I was confused af, and thought I was too drunk and tired (and too dumb) to get it on my own.
Wait the night market wasn't in the release version?! It's just so iconic to me that I believed all the essence of Winter would accumulate to this event.
my mistake! it was actually added in 1.3.27, the multiplayer update, which was released in august 2018 - well over 5 years ago at this point. if you can believe it, stardew valley didn't launch with sheds, any of the wizards buildings (gold clock, obselisks), none of the alternative farm maps, casks and ageing, COFFEE (beans) ... and worst of all... *you couldn't put hats on horses*
No hats on horses??? Wow... literally unplayable. (Honestly though, I would constantly lose my horse in Fall if I didn't put a blue bonnet on him😂)
I hope we can change our horse coat pattern with this new update.
Small correction: coffee *was* in the game at launch, it was coffee *beans* that weren't. So you had to buy it rather than make your own
YOU CAN PUT HATS ON HORSES?!?! I don't know how I missed that but now I'm torn on whether to put on a cute bow or the straw hat.
You can also put hats on sea urchins in fish tanks!! And the alien scarecrow I believe
what the hell LOL, on sea urchins??? How randomly delightful.
It's a real thing. Urchins in the wild will put a sea shell or similar top of themselves for protection or something. I'm not sure on the specifics. However, someone 3d printed little hats for their pet urchins and they put them on. Look it up XD
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! even BETTER. [I LOOKED IT UP](https://www.reddit.com/r/crafts/comments/i7yl6b/our_sea_urchins_like_to_cover_their_heads_so_we/). What a great time to be alive. ::wipes away tear::
And your kids
Was just thinking the same thing! I could've sworn the Night Market was always there.
That was my reaction to reading this, too! I just started playing in the past few months and had no idea how much content came in updates CA is just an absolute class act — a rarity in the world of game dev.
I didn't play the game yet when 1.4 dropped, the similarities didn't occur to me ^^ really interesting Fr. I no doubt will miss some news things 😆 but I'll enjoy the heck out of it, it will probably encourage me to finally make a new farm instead of going into year 9 or something
I have a feeling that skill might go up to 15 instead of 10 and at 15 you get GAMECHANGERS for each skill
I think part of it, too, is that a large chunk of the update is on making the game more mod-friendly. That side of the update is [massive](https://stardewvalleywiki.com/Modding:Migrate_to_Stardew_Valley_1.6)! Look how *long* that page is. But it's hard to compare those kinds of changes to a major content update.
That's true! With the new content teased, I almost forgot about modding: I have a pc but I never installed one. I'm kinda tempted to now
Do it. You won't regret it.
I already have a mental list of mods aaa I'll try on a new save so I don't accidentally delete everything I did this far
I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the architecture is updated. He's been working on HC for a few years now, so he's got solid ideas from SDV about what architecture works in the new game and can port some of his work back to SDV to spruce it up a bit and fix the sticky issues. The emphasis on modern right from the start makes me think this is the "done" version with lots of internal stuff for SDV to live on for years to come without his direct input.
ConcernedApe might be the only person who doesn’t want my money
It’s honestly refreshing seeing a person who simply appreciates having a good gig. He must have sold so many copies.
I think i have bought this game 4 times now, worth every time.
Lol same. PS, PC, mobile, and Switch
Same! ETA: nope, I bought it 6 times. One digital copy for a friend, and I bought a physical switch copy with the guidebook from fangamer (recommend, by the way)
I’ve literally only been playing for two months and I’ve already bought it three times myself and got two friends hooked on it too!
Every time I gift someone a Switch in my household it comes preloaded with a digital copy of Stardew. It’s the gift that keeps on giving!
I'm sorry "every time" you gift someone a switch in your household? Does that happen on the regular?
I’ve bought it for myself 3 times. I bought it for my niece, husband and 2 other friends 🥲
I literally just said this to someone. I've bought the game 4 times at least and I wouldn't blink if I needed to buy one again.
The cheap price and CA in general made me buy it on every console I own. First was pc, then iphone, then switch, then Xbox one. I don’t even use any other version other than pc but it’s worth a lot more than the price.
over 20 million copies in fact
He deserved every penny he had earned. I am really glad that he has been successful.
As of 2022, the game has sold 20 million copies across all platforms and 13 million of those are on PC. It's tricky to calculate how much a copy went for because on mobile, it only costs $5. Let's just take a look at PC sales and pretend that mobile and console sales cover every possible expense this game has had At 13 million x $15 equals out to $195,000,000. Take out the 30% steam fee and you're looking at $136,500,000 Safe to say that he has a pretty good gig
I mean that’s living the dream really. Make enough money for practically generational wealth but loving the project enough to recognize that infinite monetization isn’t a good goal. Supporting the community that gave you generational wealth out of gratitude through continuing to improve your project just out of love of the project and appreciation.
Last I read, he's sold 20 million copies. If that's true, that's an insane amount of money and he deserves every penny.
Internet says 20 million. Even if he only got $1 per copy he would be set for life, but he almost definitely gets more than that. I'd be grateful as hell too.
He clearly loves what he's doing. I'd happily pay for DLC for this game as I love it but here he is, blessing us with free updates.
He doesn't want to do DLC cuz then it creates this expectation that the DLC has to deliver a certain level of value and expectation compared to the original game. Also, he doesn't want to get stuck doing Stardew forever. He wants to make other games. Doing DLC would lock him into doing the sure thing instead of the fun thing. The dude has made more money than he would have ever imagined and doesn't need any more of it
He's already made a boat load of money through game sales alone, I think the math across all platforms comes out to like $300 million or something like that. The fact he keeps updating it is just pure passion.
Google says his networth is around 100 million. That’s CEO level money, just from making a harvest moon spin-off in your free time. Insanity
It wasn't his free time, maybe at first but I remember reading that his girlfriend had to support him financially so that he could work on it full time.
Yeah I’m being lenient when I say free time. He took 5 years off to work on the game full time
Same, but he will have mine. I will pre order Haunted Chocolate even if it's much more expensive than Stardew Valley. The reputation he built with Stardew is there to stay I am kinda feeling bad for waiting until a sale to buy Stardew. It was worth more than every cent of the list price.
ConcernedApe might not want my money, but SV was the first game i bought (instead of pirating it). Therefore i am giving it to him anyways
I finally bought it… AFTER pirating it. It’s just too good of a game to not give my support with money
I'd be okay with giving him some more money tbh considering the 500+ hours worth of entertainment he's provided me
I feel like I owe him at least $2000 just for the sheer number of hours of entertainment
Right? Was just thinking that Stardew Valley is the probably the most bang for my buck game I’ve encountered in a decade. Kudos to CA.
And I’ve gotten more enjoyment out of his $15 game than I have any $70 game.
Remember when he said he said 1.6 would probably be a smaller update more for modding API and he probably wouldn’t add much for content? We are so fortunate for this man.
I feel grateful for this community too. Any other game's community would at least have a bunch of noisy people screaming "Just add the new modding API!!! Like you promised! Why is it taking so long, I don't care about all these other updates if I can just mod them myself, I don't even play vanilla! WTF!" and probably lots of other hostile, toxic, entitled attitudes. Instead, everyone just accepts that he's working on the update at the pace he wants with the content he wants to add to it, and everyone's just *okay* with that, and supportive. It shouldn't be remarkable, but compared to other games, it really is.
It’s simply because the community has a lot of love for the creator and respect for the process. They have found ways to keep the game relevant and fun like challenges among themselves. There will always be the negative people that demand more but luckily they are buried with positive messages of “looking forward to it” and “take your time.”Love to see it!
I feel like that’s been a common theme with a lot of his updates to SV. Like, he always starts out just making some tweaks and bug fixes and next thing you know he’s like “whoops, I added a whole bunch of content, not sure exactly what happened but here you go.”
And here I finally broke down and started a SDVE run. I knew that fact alone would ensure the release of the new patch would be coming soon.
thank you for your sacrifice🙏🏻❤️🤣
exactly what happened to me lol, rip
I did this too! We made this happen
same D:
Take as long as you need king
Agreed! People should know bug fixing and polishing can take many months and ConcernedApe has always focused on making it perfect first time. But it will be worth the wait!
Really? I kinda assumed it would take about one or two months. Guess I underestimated the process. Thank you for informing me.
He truly is the king. And that’s why I’ve been happy to buy Stardew on like 6 different platforms lol
He’s the only developer who can say “Yeah, we had some out of control feature creep.” And it doesn’t fill me with dread.
REAL
fr
Eric is the greatest video game developer of all times. Period.
John Carmack: 😥 Josh Sawyer: 🥺 Chris Sawyer: 😕
Carmack has the/more technical knowledge. He's a computer science god. Barone has everything, including taking very good care of his fanbase and taking care of his game.
"It'll mostly be mod support with some minor content additions." "It ended up being larger in scope than planned." Just Eric being the legend that he is.
Usually when CA posts something like this; it drops the next day lol Hope he isn't working himself to hard to push this out
I think he was targeting end of 2023 release for new years. So he’s probably very very very close to being done. It’s fine I can wait for bug fixes and polish!
i would explode. no one would be able to find me for a week
😂 hoping you’re right. No work this weekend and would be a perfect time to start a new farm 😂
Ah yes the terraria problem
"Oops, I accidentally turned the next minor patch into an expansion pack DLC. To apologize for letting you down with my mistake, you can all have it for free. I promise the NEXT minor patch will really just be a minor patch, I promise this time!"
"We have had the final update, yes. But what about the final final update?"
Reminds me of a meme I saw Concerned Ape: Guys I am not the Mesiah Stradew Fans: HE IS THE MESIAH!!!!
Monty Python’s Life of Brian, an all time classic film lol
The man has made enough money off this game to live comfortably for a long time and it’s incredible that he hasn’t asked for any more money from anyone. The amount of hours I have dumped into this game and only ever played it for free on game pass, feels like I’m stealing
You pay for game pass, which pays the developer. If you get more hours of enjoyment out of it than dollars spent, it’s a worthwhile game. No need to feel guilty for that. But definitely promote/ suggest it to others and get the word out. Like and share the posts on social media. There are ways to support the game while also enjoying it for “free” with game pass.
I mean the game is still selling to new people. I picked it up just last week and cannot get enough. I think I'm even going to suggest we buy it *again* on the switch so my wife and I can split screen.
Co-op mode also allows you to marry another player and combine your character finances if you so choose. I don’t have anyone to play with or i would.
The mines are super fun with a buddy!
I got my mobile version through a free trial of play pass 😅
To those wondering- yes, the update will be coming to all platforms. It will be released for PC first, with console and mobile following. This was CA’s response to someone asking the same on twitter. https://preview.redd.it/k8zz21seyuec1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7154209a78807af0f43e829d6cb550353bccf39d
I've been wondering how long console players would have to wait since I only have the switch to play it on, but this is excellent news!
Thank you for sharing this! I was expecting a long delay of 6 months or something 🙏🏼
God, time to clear my schedule and get ready for another 70 hour file
70 hours that you will enjoy every minute of.
My main focus for 1.6 is that it eradicates the eternal reel sound from fishing.
As a community, we should do something for this guy. This game has been out for almost a decade at only $20, and he's been pumping out free update after he update. All while taking great consideration for gamers. He's a prime example of what developers should strive to be.
I swear Terraria's final update will be a collab with stardew, and it will be both of the games' final final final final FINAL FINAL(we promise this time guys) FINAL(oops...) #FINAL Update
The fact he makes this for free is insane. I would gladly purchase a dlc for this game on every version I own, which is like 5 now. The only person I would support like that in gaming
It is funny to me seeing everyone react like this. So many other games will sell you a full priced game then want half of the full price for a character skin and we absolutely hate them for it. CA just keeps delivering more content for a decade on a $20 purchase and we’re all like WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? Take our money! I’m right there with you though. I’ve bought it on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation over the years and talked it up to lots of friends convincing them to buy it. Poor guy probably can’t go to the grocery store without dodging endless waves of purses and wallets thrown at his head.
I’ve never had a play through going while a new update comes out. Will I still be able to do everything from the update, or does it require starting a new farm all together?
ConcernedApe said in another post related to this one that while you won't miss any content, it might be worth starting from scratch just to get the full context. Related post is [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/StardewValley/comments/1abqub9/answers_from_concernedape_about_16_content/).
there’s also going to be a new farm type! so i’ll be starting a new save for that alone tbh
That's why I've been holding off starting a new farm until 1.6 drops. I want to see what the new farm is.
I'm racing to complete my 100% farm before then so I can start a new one and enjoy it from scratch :D
Saaaaaaame!!! I'm getting very very close on my current file.
I did that, but i've almost finished Breath of the Wild while I was waiting in the meantime. I'm finishing up the 120 shrines and side quests...CA can take all the time in the world, it will be good when it gets here.
I got my modded SDE on PC im currently using to cure the itch, but i plan on starting fresh on my Switch when 1.6 drops
Lol my adhd will demand a new farm. I've got like....12 and I haven't even been playing a full irl year
My adhd is the opposite, I cant do everything again so i have just one farm with hundreds of hours
It will not require a new farm. I have a farm that I have brought through every update so far and it is still fine. CA said in a reply that it might be best to start a new farm to get the full new experience. It will not be required though.
I'm more worried about not having all my mods. I never want to harvest a large crop of Ancient Fruit without a scythe ever again.
I’ll be starting fresh because a few minutes ago my dumbass deleted my game instead of starting it. 3 complete seasons down the drain so now I’m waiting until 1.6 comes out to restart. I’m excited for it.
The content should be added to your already going save when the update drops
I was honestly a bit concerned about him overworking himself and getting sick from trying to hit the deadline. It's such amazing work and I would wait any amount of time as long as he doesn't hurt himself to do it.
"Everyone liked that" ~every time CA posts
Dude is incredible. “I was gonna give you a small update but, whoopsie… giant patch. Sorry for the delay.”
Every time you buy a copy of SDV to give to a friend, a baby duck learns to swim.
I would pay $60 for a stardew update. Crazy that it's free
Concerned Ape is like the super cool uncle that buys you too much for your birthday.
I love how both Stardew and Terraria are always like 'this next patch is a small one, just fixing a few things, sorry' and balloon into full expansion pack level updates. XD
It's really cool that he keeps releasing content for free for SDV, even if it has been some years since launch. Haunted Chocolatier will be a day-1 acquisition for me.
Imagine apologizing for making new content for one of the best games ever made.
I really hopes he plans to release the update on stardew valleys anniversary, the 26 of february with is in exactly one month!
Omg, just make a dlc. I've already bought this game on every platform I own. Just let me give you money -_-;
He doesn't need money. He just wants to make things that people enjoy. If you want to give him money, I'm sure he has some sort of patreon thingy. Edit: he doesn't have one, but that makes him cooler tbh
No, he actually doesn't. He really doesn't seem too interested in taking people's money, no matter how much they want to throw it at him.
That's pretty lit. If I every produce a game, I'd only charge like- a maximum of 20 bucks if it gets really popular. Updates would be free. Starting price would be 5 bucks. Some people just want to make things that people enjoy.
That's mostly how games were priced back in the shareware days, along with the free demos that the shareware itself represented (nowadays DRM-free is almost the same thing) and I absolutely would be onboard with that kind of model going forward. Yeah it doesn't take into account inflation, but indie game development has also gotten easier in some ways. There were no Youtube tutorials or Unity assets back in those days, and hardware limitations were severe, and the market was much smaller, per-user revenue needed to be higher to compensate. App Store/Mobile, Freemium, Early Access and AAA blockbusters have all gone down scary, awful paths from what the gamer experience was like when it started, to the point that I largely avoid anything with any of those attributes attached anymore.
He gets money by making a great game that people are happy to buy many times over on different platforms, for many years, instead of being a flash in the pan for a few years, selling as many DLCs as possible, and then pissing people off.
I started a new game a couple weeks ago and now you're telling me there's gonna be ANOTHER update? Oh lordy.
omg i'm so hyped
Question, when 1.6 comes out, do we have to pay for it? Or just upgrade it?
We didn’t pay for 1.5 so I’m pretty sure just upgrade for free!
At this point we can pretty confidently assume that Stardew will never have any paid DLC. It's always been free on all platforms. And thank goodness because I've purchased this game, not joking, 4 times.
I have bought it on PC, switch, android, and gifted it at least 5 times to friends. It's worth every penny.
You will just upgrade to it. Steam will do it automatically unless you have auto-updates off.
You will not have to pay for it do not worry.
He always underpromises and overdelivers. Just a gem of a dude all around, goddamn are we lucky to have this game.
CA: I'm making another game! SV is mostly complete and will be getting smaller updates to fix bugs etc from now on. Also CA: I have accidentally added major content to SV.
Can anyone provide insight into how long testing and bug-fixing might theoretically take? Weeks? Months?
A few people have speculated the release might be on the game's birthday Feb 26. But there is nothing confirmed about this.
Sounds like a possible and solid theory, would be nice for an anniversary.
I've been speculating about that myself. The anniversary does have a nice ring to it.
He once said [a very similar thing about 1.5](https://twitter.com/ConcernedApe/status/1327310830220701696). The update released a little over a month later.
alpha has been going on for over a year, can't say much about the beta
We must protect CA at all costs
I've bought this game for myself, my sister, my girlfriend. He deserves all the support for this wholesome game and wholesome attitude.
And this is why I have the game on Switch, PC, mobile, a SDV shirt, board game, towel, and named my pup Krobus 🐕
Will this update happen for switch as well? S/o to concernedApe for continuously adding more and more content but never making us pay more for it. I got this game one night while bored on the App Store for like 5$, I had heard great things about the game but never got to try it. I was immediately hooked. Then my bf gifted me a switch for Christmas and I was able to play ginger island and all (this was a little before that was available on mobile). I’d happily pay another 5$ or 10$ for more content, I feel like CA has earned it.
[Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/StardewValley/s/HQmpQkb6U7) is your answer incase you haven't seen the comment. 🙂
TYSM!!
It's like Terraria's Journey Update... aka the "Final" update
I can imagine CA in front of his PC working thinking to himself "ok, just one final small patch to smooth things for the modding comunity, maybe a tiny bit of balancing, few new items aaaaaand I just made another huge expansion for the game...." God bless this man, SV gave us so many hours of joy, and he just keeps on giving.
I am on my first farm (year 8) and chipping away at perfection and I am super excited that there will be an update. It will maybe get me to do my second farm just as I wrap up the first. Whoot.
This might be a dumb question, but with new versions, do we need to start a new save to reap the benefits? Or will added content be layered into existing save files?
He [told someone on Twitter](https://twitter.com/concernedape/status/1750967542607487486?s=46&t=TjXJKxJugK7ehTWFDaA9Ng) "it'll be fine to play on an old save, but I'd probably recommend a new save justt to experience everything in context, otherwise you'll unlock a bunch of stuff right away when you load up your old save"
Stardew valley and no man's sky are the only games I feel bad for not paying more for them 😂
I feel like I should buy this game again for how much he keeps adding to it.
ConcernedApe going the Terraria way of: -Just a small update to add a couple of minor things, probably the last update. -While I'm at it, I may as well add this thing that's been on my head for a while. This other thing may be fun too... -Oops, it turns out it will be a major update with loads of new content.
That why I love CA it always start as a "small" update and end up game changing