'Stardew Valley' Creator Promises More Content, Puts New Game on Hold

The creator of Stardew Valley announced that he's put his new project on hold and is now focusing on new content for the farming simulator RPG.

Eric Barone, typically known as ConcernedApe, announced on the Stardew Valley site his intentions regarding the hit title and his in-progress game. His new game is set in the universe of Stardew Valley, a fact that's been known since he teased the project, but he's been deliberately quiet about his plans for the game and continued to be secretive in his update. He also said in the past that he wanted to focus on the new game instead of creating more Stardew Valley content, but he's changed his mind with a new content update already having been in the works prior to the announcement.

"In short, what I'm saying is that I am going to keep making new content for Stardew Valley," Barone said. "In fact, I've recently put my other game on the back-burner and have been in the process of creating a new free content update."

In a more detailed explanation for his decision, Barone said there'd been times in the past where he felt like he wanted to move on from Stardew Valley but constantly felt himself pulled back into the game to explore new ideas. He also thanked the community for their involvement and attributed part of his decision to continue making new content for the game to the response he receives from players.

"This world is so full of potential, I could probably work on it for the rest of my life," he said. "There's also such a wonderful community surrounding the game… and I like making you guys happy. I'm extremely grateful to all of you for supporting my work and creating this wonderful Stardew Valley community. I wouldn't be where I am today without you. And knowing that there's still tons of people out there who love the game and would be extremely happy to get new content motivates me to keep working."

Barone said he'd be forming a team to work on Stardew Valley content, but the next update will be a solo project. The Stardew Valley creator has worked on the game by himself since it was released and even recently transitioned to self-publishing his game that was previously handled by Chucklefish on all versions except Nintendo Switch and mobile devices. He also said that his top priority is getting the Patch 1.3 multiplayer update out on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 while also addressing issues with the Nintendo Switch patch.