Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone, the creator behind the smash hit farming and life simulator game Stardew Valley, confirmed that the game may not receive any updates in the near future. The news came out of an interview with Zach “UnsurpassableZ” Hartman on Twitch following the end of the Stardew Valley Cup.
Once the event concluded, ConcernedApe said he likely wouldn’t add in more romance options to Stardew Valley in the near future. Adding the necessary dialogue and events would lead to “a ton of work” and “take a huge amount of time,” he said, and his focus in the near future lies on his next title instead of updates to Stardew Valley.
“I don’t know… I’m not saying there’s never going to be another Stardew Valley update,” ConcernedApe said. “I don’t even know at this point. Right now I am focused on my next game. So, we’ll see.” ConcernedApe isn’t opposed to doing the work in the future, though, because “it would be fun” to add more options—and he has two existing NPCs in mind if it does happen.
Ever since launching the 1.5 update for Stardew Valley on consoles in February, the game has received minor patches across all platforms to fix issues and improve performance. The last update regarding new releases was shared on July 6, mentioning that version 1.5 might still take some time to port for mobile versions of the game.
ConcernedApe will likely share more details about his next project soon, and he could also include more details on future updates to Stardew Valley. As of now, all we know is that the game will take place in the Stardew Valley universe using a similar art style, but won’t be focused on farming. Until the announcement, however, fans can continue to enjoy the game and look forward to future iterations of the Stardew Valley Cup.
