New Stardew Valley updates less likely as creator focuses on next game

Developer Eric 'Concerned Ape' Barone is putting his full attention on creating his next game rather than further content for Stardew Valley.

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When one has a game that has been as popular and beloved as Stardew Valley, it makes sense that they might want to support and stretch out that game’s success for as long as possible. Eric ‘Concerned Ape’ Barone has done that and more, giving fans plenty of reasons to return to the game years after it came out. That said, the last big thing to come to Stardew Valley was the 1.5 update, and according to Barone, that may be the last one for the foreseeable future as he puts the majority of his attention on his next game.

This came from Barone himself, who took part in hosting the Stardew Valley Cup over the last weekend in which speedrunners and content creators challenged each other to interesting contests throughout the game. During the events, there was a Q&A with Concerned Ape in which he answered a number of questions relating to the game, as transcribed by Destructoid. It was here during a question about marriageable update mods that Barone not only shared his opinion on the mod, but also the future of the game and his next project.

Stardew Valley Update 1.5 brought a beach farm layout, tons of fishing changes, and much more content. It will likely be one of the game's last big updates as Concerned Ape works on his next big game.
Stardew Valley Update 1.5 brought a beach farm layout, tons of fishing changes, and much more content. It will likely be one of the game's last big updates as Concerned Ape works on his next big game.

“Honestly, I would love to have almost everyone be marriageable. It’s a ton of work, that’s the main reason I haven’t added more people,” Barone said. “There’s no reason why I’m opposed to having more, I think it would be fun. If there’s ever any more marriage candidates added I have two more in mind…existing [characters]. There are enough NPC marriage candidates that exist.”

It was then that Barone quickly stated that didn’t mean he’d be going for a Stardew Valley 1.6 Update anytime soon.

“I’m not saying there’s going to be another Stardew Valley update, I don’t even know at this point, I’m focused on my next game.”

Barone has previously revealed that the next game he is working on is another top-down pixel game, though it won’t be a farming sim like Stardew. And so it seems the Stardew Valley 1.5 Update is the last big thing we’ll see for that game unless something big changes (not that the game is in any way lacking at this point). As we await a reveal on the next big thing from Concerned Ape, stay tuned for details and announcements here at Shacknews.

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.

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