“It’s all the systems — all the major systems — are already all done,” said Barone. “That’s the stuff that’s not fun to do. When I make an update [for Stardew Valley now], it’s like, you know, oh, throw in this, throw in that. Let’s add green rain — like, these random, whimsical ideas.”

“I might eventually make a Stardew Valley 2, to be honest,” he continued.

It is worth noting that, while Barone is also currently working on another game – Haunted Chocolatier – he has maintained that he will continue to add more content to Stardew Valley. In an interview from back in January, Barone even spoke about wanting to add things to the game even 50 years later.

“I do take in a lot of what the fans are saying,” said Barone in January. “I pay attention to what their thoughts are, what their criticisms are. And the players are very important to me. I mean, I will never forget that it’s because of the players that I’m in this position, that the game was able to be popular, that my dreams as a game developer have come true.”

Barone also spoke about the idea that a game could potentially have “too much content”. He did say that, if he were to ever start feeling overwhelmed with all of the things he plans on adding to Stardew Valley, he will ultimately stop further development. “Another thing is, I do want to make more than one game in my life. Including the development time, I’ve been working on Stardew Valley for over 12 years now,” he said.

However, he still hasn’t shown any signs of stopping work on Stardew Valley. He went as far as to even joke about releasing a fresh update for the game when he is 90 years old. “I don’t want to definitively say that the book is ever closed, because I think I will always have a desire to come back and maybe add a thing or two. You know, maybe even 50 years from now, I might add something.”

“I like creating things. I don’t think I’m ever going to retire. I think it would be funny to release an update when I’m, like, 90 years old — if I live that long. Let’s hope.”

Stardew Valley was originally released all the way back in 2016. As the title has crept up to its tenth anniversary, it has ultimately been released on just about every gaming platform out there. As of January this year, Barone had confirmed that more than 41 million copies had been sold so far.

When it comes to his other title, Barone had mentioned in the past that he was “taking a break” from the development of Haunted Chocolatier. However, he hasn’t revealed any more details about the title since then aside from saying that work on the game would resume after a major update for Stardew Valley had been completed.

According to Barone, this includes having the Stardew Valley update come to all other platforms, as well as making sure any bugs that might surface for players in the latest patch have been fixed.

For context, Stardew Valley‘s 1.6 update—one of the biggest updates the game has seen—was released earlier this month on PC. The update brought with it a host of new content, balance changes, and the addition of 8-player multiplayer.

It is worth noting that the update turned out to be much larger in scope than Barone had originally planned, ultimately encompassing new content for many different facets of the game, from festivals to end-game content.

Barone’s follow up to Stardew Valley, Haunted Chocolatier, was originally announced back in 2021. Development on the title, however, has been slow. Back in 2023, Barone had announced update 1.6 for Stardew Valley alongside revealing that he was “taking a break” from developing Haunted Chocolatier.

I am eager to get back to work on it. But I have to see Stardew 1.6 settled, bug-free and out to all platforms first

— ConcernedApe (@ConcernedApe) March 23, 2024

The bad news for those anticipating Barone’s next game, Haunted Chocolatier – Barone is “taking a break” from its development to work on Stardew Valley’s new update. Once the latter is out, he’ll return to Haunted Chocolatier. Also, for those craving more details for the upcoming action RPG, Barone confirmed that “the town is on the water, and there are docks.”

Judging by the scale of Stardew Valley, it’s no surprise that Haunted Chocolatier will take time. Barone stated last December that development would “be a while,” though it’s going well. Along with being a big game, it’s also likely to receive post-launch updates based on player reception.

Stay tuned for more updates in the coming months (and possibly years). Or just return to Stardew Valley, which has sold over 20 million units in its lifetime, for a new playthrough or two.

There is going to be a Stardew 1.6 update. It's mostly changes for modders (which will make it easier & more powerful to mod). But there is also new game content, albeit much less than 1.5. I'm taking a break from Haunted Chocolatier to work on this at the moment. Then back to HC

— ConcernedApe (@ConcernedApe) April 16, 2023

the town is on the water and there are docks

— ConcernedApe (@ConcernedApe) April 17, 2023

As you may have expected, it’s not going to be anytime soon. Speaking in an interview with Screen Rant, Barone revealed that he’s been working on Haunted Chocolatier for nearly two years at this point, and added that judging by the fact that he worked on Stardew Valley for four and a half years, his second project is still going to be in development for a while before it’s ready to launch.

“It’s going well, but it’s a big game,” he said when asked about how the game’s development was proceeding. “I have a big, ambitious vision for it. It’s a little bit daunting, the amount of work that it’s going to be. But Stardew Valley took me four and a half years; I’ve been working on Haunted Chocolatier for about a year and a half or maybe two years now. I announced it a little bit over a year ago, but it’s still gonna be a while. But I think it’s going good. So far. There’s a lot of good things so far.”

Barone also went on to add that like Stardew Valley, Haunted Chocolatier will likely be receiving consistent substantial updates even after launch. That said, that isn’t something that’s set in stone just yet, and may or may not happen depending on certain factors- like whether or not the game has a playerbase that’s large enough to justify that.

“I think that’s very likely,” he said when asked if Haunted Chocolatier would follow a similar post-launch plan to Stardew Valley. “It kind of depends on how the rest of the development goes, and where the game is at when I launch it. It depends somewhat on the players’ reaction to the game. If no one plays, then maybe I’ll move on to something else. But if people are really excited about the game, that gives me the energy and the inspiration to keep making updates for it. That’s why I’m still attached to Stardew Valley, because there’s so many people who play it still.”

Haunted Chocolatier is in development for PC. Versions for other platforms haven’t yet been announced.

“Haunted Chocolatier has a greater focus on combat, so it needs to be very fun, satisfying, and engaging, while also appropriately fitting into the big picture. You can rest assured that I’m not ‘copying and pasting’ Stardew’s combat. On the contrary, almost everything in Haunted Chocolatier, including the combat, is completely coded (and drawn) from scratch.” Shields are also confirmed to be in the game with players capable of blocking “many” attacks and stunning enemies. Even better, a stunned enemy can be attacked “must faster.”

Of course, if you prefer to just go in swinging, then that’s also an option since. Those who are successfully will take down enemies faster and there will be other off-hand items aside from shields that will “compliment different play styles.” Barone also noted that the sword swinging animation in the GIF looks different from the recent trailer. “That’s because I’m still working on everything, and it’s all a work in progress. Everything seen so far could still change before the game is finished. If you followed the development of Stardew Valley, this will be familiar.”

This also means that there will be lots of things that players will discover by themselves in the game. However, it may be a while before it releases. “The bottom line, is that I won’t rest, or release this game, until I am personally satisfied that it’s very fun and compelling, in every aspect. If it never gets there, I’ll just never release it. But don’t worry, I have 100 percent faith that I’ll get it there. Everything is on the right track so far, I have the complete vision for the game in my head, and it’s just a matter of “grinding it out”, which is what I’m doing every day!”

Haunted Chocolatier has only been confirmed for PC thus far. Stay tuned for details in the coming months.

ConcernedApe unveiled an early look at gameplay from Haunted Chocolatier. In this you will play the role of a chocolatier who finds themselves living in a haunted castle. Much like Stardew Valley, you must find ingredients and various resources to maintain your chocolate shop. It seems the gameplay will be more action-based than ConcernedApe’s previous title, however. It’s unclear if this is intended as a full sequel to Stardew Valley or its own standalone companion piece.

As of now, there is no release date or time frame for Haunted Chocolatier and has thus far only been confirmed for PC.