Stardew Valleyhas been the center of attention in the realm of cozy gaming for nearly a decade. Created by solo developer ConcernedApe, AKA Eric Baron, on a rickety desk,Stardew Valleyhas become a juggernaut in the world of cozy games and one of the best-selling games of all time, beating titles likeWorld of Warcraft, Mario Kart Wii,andThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrimin terms of sales. With all this success and attention,Stardew Valleymight be holding its developer back from moving onand creating another cozy game masterpiece.
The1.6 update forStardew Valleyadded a considerable number of changes to the game but also took up a large chunk of 2024 after porting to consoles and mobile, which took months and months to finish.These lost monthsmight have taken away from the time ConcernedApe and his team could have spent onHaunted Chocolatier, which is disappointing since the upcoming game looks like another instant classic.
ConcernedApe Gives Stardew Valley So Much Attention
This Labor Of Love Has Lasted For Almost A Decade
Stardew Valley was releasedin 2016, but unlike most other games almost a decade old, it is still receiving regular updates from its creator. Ever since 2016,ConcernedApe has been updating Stardew Valley. These updates weren’t just to optimize the game for new generations of consoles and PCs but also to add incredible new content for free.
Stardew Valley’s Latest Switch Patch Is Here And It Fixes All Those Pesky Crashes
Just days after Stardew Valley’s latest Nintendo Switch patch introduced some unexpected crashes, ConcernedApe fixes the problem with a new update.
SinceStardew Valleyhas remained a project led by a tiny team, creating new additions for an update and porting that update to multiple platforms takes a lot of time. It’s fantastic to have a labor of love likeStardew Valleyby a dedicated developer, butmassive updates for an older game might detract from an upcoming title.
Haunted Chocolatier has been described as an action RPG, where players collect ingredients for making sweets at their candy store.
ConcernedApe and his small team’s next title isHaunted Chocolatier, another game with his signature pixel art style butcompletely different gameplay. Rather than another cozy farming game,Haunted Chocolatierhas been described asan action RPG, where players collect ingredients for making sweets at their candy store. There haven’t been many announcements on what the game will be like exactly, but likeStardew Valley, players will be able to romance NPCs and customize the layout of their area, just like the farm inStardew Valley.
Stardew Valley’s 1.6 Update Has Taken A Lot Of Development Time
Porting To Console And Mobile Took Longer Than Expected
The most significant update forStardew Valleywas 1.6, which officially came out for PC on July 24, 2025. The1.6 update added many new featuresfor players to enjoy, including a new farm type, festivals, NPCs, achievements, better dialogue, and Easter Eggs.The list of additions for 1.6 is absurdly long, as almost every aspect of the game was tweaked in some way, from adding new fishing bobber styles in Willy’s Shop to adding Winter outfits for every NPC in Pelican Town.
It’s safe to say that creating and coding all the additions in the 1.6 update took a lot of time and work. On top of that,Stardew Valleyis a multi-platform title, meaning this update mustmeet special requirements for every unique platform. Because of these requirements,it took almost eight months from the release of 1.6 on PCfor the sameupdate to come to console and mobileon July 05, 2025.
Haunted Chocolatier Still Has No Release Date After Being Revealed Five Years Ago
1.6 Held ConcernedApe Back For Almost A Year
ConcernedApe announced the development ofHaunted Chocolatierall the way back in 2020 and revealed a short gameplay trailer in late 2021, which gave a promising outlook on the game’s development.However,as of early 2025, the game still has no release date. While a game being created by a solo developer, or even a very small team, isn’t expected to have a fast turnaround, the time ConcernedApe spent onStardew Valleythroughout 2024 has undoubtedly slowed down progress onHaunted Chocolatier.
“The Man Deserves A Break”: Stardew Valley Fans Think ConcernedApe Is Long Overdue For A Vacation After Working Tirelessly
Stardew Valley fans believe that solo developer ConcernedApe deserves a long vacation after all of his hard work on bug fixes and patches.
In a blog post onHaunted Chocolatier’s blog, ConcernedApe stated that pausing work onHaunted Chocolatierwas sad but that he feels “a strong sense of duty and obligation to all the people who have bought Stardew Valley over the years.” He also revealed that 1.6 wasn’t originally supposed to take so much time but that “it kind of snowballed into a pretty substantial amount of new content.”It’s unfortunate that 1.6 has taken up so much time, especially with the issues porting to console and mobile.
While the 1.6 update forStardew Valleyis impressive,it is too bad that it comes at the cost of theHaunted Chocolatier’s developmentsince it will likely be an indie masterpiece. Hopefully, ConcernedApe will be able to focus solely onHaunted Chocolatierin 2025 and announce a release date in the near future.
Source:Haunted Chocolatier Blog
Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley is a charming indie farming scene that took the world by storm. After inheriting a run-down farm from their grandfather, the player moves to Stardew Valley to start a new life away from the city. Grow crops, raise animals, befriend the villagers, and discover the secrets the valley has to offer.
