Who knows if Stardew Valley is finished, but the dev behind it is "committed to not working" on it until Haunted Chocolatier is done
Sweet!
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Remember when Haunted Chocolatier was announced… sorry, hang on, almost four years ago? Cripes, time really does fly when you're waiting on the incredibly anticipated follow-up to one of the most popular games of all time doesn't it! It's no secret that developer Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone is happy to take his time with his next game, and good on him for doing so. However, he also can't help himself but continue to work on Stardew Valley, releasing another pretty big update for the farming game only last year. The good news is that, based on some comments in a recent interview, Haunted Chocolatier is the main focus going forward.
Speaking to PC Gamer, Barone explained,"The 1.6 update is pretty settled at this point. There were ongoing console ports and bug fixes, but it's pretty settled now. I'm committed to not working on Stardew Valley until I'm done with Haunted Chocolatier… I think it's in a good place. I feel very solid about it. I think if anyone picks up Stardew Valley for the first time in 2025, I'm very proud of it, and I think they'll have fun with it if they like this kind of game."
Another issue he's facing is his own work, specifically the work he did when he started development all those years ago. "It's been a few years that I've been working on it now and it's like, I look at some of the stuff I did at the beginning and I'm like, 'Oh man, here we go again. I'm gonna have to redo all of this," Barone said. Though, he did note it's not a case of anything being bad, just that given the passage of time he's a "different person" and his "aesthetic sensibilities have evolved."
That's one of the fatal flaws of game dev these days I think. How on earth can you properly reflect the artist you are now when it's a project you've been working on for years? A question I'm curious to see answered whenever Haunted Chocolatier does come out. Which, I imagine, is still probably a good while away.