Stardew Valley Creator Discusses His Next Game, Wants to "Take Things to the Extreme"

Stardew Valley has proven to be a successful, charming experience akin to Harvest Moon or other farming simulators, and while Nintendo gamers are just now enjoying the Switch version, the game's creator is already looking forward to working on his next project.

Eric Barone, the mastermind behind the relaxing game, took to Reddit to take part in an AMA where he opened up to fans' questions about Stardew Valley and other topics. Amid talks of his favorite residents in Stardew Valley and secrets that he might've hidden within the game, Barone appears to already have some exciting plans for another game, though he's trying to keep it under wraps for now.

"I have plans for my next game, but I don't want to reveal anything for a while ... creating hype too far in advance is a lot of pressure, and ultimately I don't think it benefits anyone," Barone said, teasing the mysterious content. "I prefer to work in an isolated bubble."

While he's not speaking too much about his plans for his next game, it appears that his next game will stay within the world that Stardew Valley takes place in. Barone confirmed that it won't be a sequel or an expansion, but it'll take place "on the same planet."

But when he considered what he did with Stardew Valley compared to what he plans on accomplishing with the next game, the developer says that he felt he didn't push the game to the limit and instead followed in an already-made path, one that games like Harvest Moon have carved out. The gloves are coming off for the next game though, so players can expect to see big improvements from Stardew Valley.

"In Stardew Valley, I held back to some degree ... I took a softer approach ... partly because I felt like I was following an already established tradition (Harvest Moon)," he said. "With my next game I want to go all out with my ideas, take things to the extreme, create an even richer and more detailed game world. And delight players with continuous hand-crafted experiences."

Stardew Valley is currently out for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, but not further details have been given on the next title.