Skip to main content

Work is never done on the farm: Breakout sim Stardew Valley getting updates

Stardew Valley
Image used with permission by copyright holder
The success of Stardew Valley, an indie farming and lifestyle sim, caught a lot of people off guard when it launched earlier this year. This one-man passion project, a spiritual successor to the Harvest Moon franchise, quickly topped Steam’s sale charts when it was released, selling more than a million copies. Now that the post-launch madness has died down a bit, creator Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone has had time to recuperate and look forward to the game’s future, which will involve co-op multiplayer, loads of new content, and console ports, according to a recent developer blog update.

Updates until now have focused on bug fixes and quality of life, so the upcoming version 1.1 will be the first major infusion of new content, focusing particularly on the late game. The full list of planned features (which is, of course, subject to change) includes:

  • More late-game content
  • New farm buildings
  • New crops
  • New artisan goods
  • New advanced farming/producing mechanics
  • Shane and Emily will be marriage candidates; they will also have more events and dialogue as a result
  • More marriage content for all spouses
  • More events for the non-marriage NPCs
  • Improvements/additions to mining and combat
  • Ability to move buildings and other convenience features
  • More bug fixes
  • More secrets
  • More small, fun touches to the world
Recommended Videos

In addition to 1.1, Barone also plans to add support for co-op multiplayer, as well as ports for Mac, Linux, and consoles. Publisher Chucklefish will be handling the ports, freeing up solo developer Barone to focus on adding new content to the game.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

“This will allow me to focus on creating new game content for version 1.1, which I will continue to do entirely on my own,” said Barone. There is no word yet on a time fame for either version 1.1 or any of the additional promised features and versions.

Will Fulton
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…
The best games like Stardew Valley
A player fishes in their local pond.

Working the farm, forming relationships with the townsfolk, and just enjoying the vibe are what make Stardew Valley such a great game to settle into. Easygoing games like this have become incredibly popular -- especially for those who don't typically play games -- but it can be hard to find more that offer that same type of experience if you don't know where to look. The farming and life-sim genre has become a bit bloated as of late with games not quite as polished or fully featured as you would hope. We've worked the land and harvested only the ripest games like Stardew Valley to satisfy your desire for more farming-sim goodness.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Read more
‘Hardcore’ Stardew Valley mod deletes your save if you open up guides
A wedding in Stardew Valley. The player characters is marrying Haley, who's in a bridal gown. They're standing underneath an arch with all the townsfolk watching.

Stardew Valley is already as challenging as you make it. But have you ever wanted it to be even worse? Well, a new mod that's been making the rounds online could help with that.

The "Hardcore Mode" mod was created by a software engineer called Sylvie Nightshade and released out into the world on Friday (spotted by GamesRadar). It does one simple task: delete your save if you just so happen to open the Stardew Valley Wiki in your browser.

Read more
Stardew Valley gift guide: the best gifts for every villager
A wedding in Stardew Valley. The player characters is marrying Haley, who's in a bridal gown. They're standing underneath an arch with all the townsfolk watching.

The residents of Pelican Town are friendly enough when you begin a new farming adventure in Stardew Valley, but you need to do some work to really earn their affection.

You have an individual affection level with each that can be raised primarily in two ways: doing quests for them and giving them gifts. The latter option is far faster and more efficient, but also riskier. Unlike some other games, each character in Stardew Valley has gifts they like and love but also feel nothing for as well as dislike or hate. Giving a bad gift to a character you're hoping to romance will only set you back. Let's open our journals and make sure we know the best gifts for each villager in town.
How gift-giving works

Read more