Since it was announced back in 2021, Haunted Chocolatier has been one of the most anticipated cozy games of all time. And for good reason, as it will be the second game from Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone, aka Concerned Ape. It has now been almost 5 years since the game’s announcement, and some fans are losing hope about ever playing Haunted Chocolatier. Updates from Barone are few and far in between, but he has recently addressed some fan theories and concerns in a new blog post.
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The last update on Haunted Chocolatier came not long after Barone announced Stardew Valley 1.7 in September 2025. But on January 28th, a new blog post appeared on the official Haunted Chocolatier website. In it, Concerned Ape assures fans he’s “been very productive lately” on Haunted Chocolatier. The post shows off a few new screenshots from the game and addresses some common “myths and false assumptions” circulating about the game. Naturally, the debunking has led to even more fan speculation about Haunted Chocolatier.
Concerned Ape Says Haunted Chocolatier Will “Come Out When It’s Done”
Partly because Barone shares official updates so rarely, fans spend a lot of time speculating about what’s going on with Haunted Chocolatier. Along with a general update and a few new sneak peeks, his latest post includes a section addressing many of the theories that have been floating around lately.
First and foremost, Concerned Ape is once again making it clear that Haunted Chocolatier is a separate project from Stardew. He confirms that the game’s content will not wind up being added to Stardew, and that updates to the farming sim are not a secret testing ground for Haunted Chocolatier. This is important clarification and helps to squash some of the rumors that havebeen floating around. But even so, it’s another aspect of the post that’s catching the majority of fan attention.
In response to 2030 release date speculation, Concerned Ape clarified that he never said the game would come out then. Instead, when he was asked back in 2025 if Haunted Chocolatier would release in the next 5 years, he said, “I hope so.” In other words, it could be sooner, it could be later. He notes that he doesn’t want to give a release date for the game, adding that it “will come out when it’s done.”
Naturally, fans are taking that to mean that Concerned Ape plans to shadow drop Haunted Chocolatier when it’s ready. And as a developer, he certainly has the clout to use that strategy to great advantage. However, it’s important to note that isn’t precisely what he said. He could shadow drop the game, or he could be waiting to announce a release date until it’s clearer when the game will be ready. Either way, it sounds like we won’t have the crushing disappointment of looking forward to a specific date for Haunted Chocolatier only to see it delayed.
As with most Haunted Chocolatier updates, this post doesn’t tell us a whole lot about the game. It does, however, reaffirm that Concerned Ape is still working on it, even with a new Stardew Valley update on the way. We aren’t any closer to having a true timeline for when the game could come out, and from the sound of it, we aren’t going to. Haunted Chocolatier will come out when it’s good and ready, and apparently, it will have cute little round bears when it does.
Are you hoping to see Haunted Chocolatier any time soon, or are you ready for a long wait? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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