Eric Barone, the creator of Stardew Valley, recently shared that he wishes he had foreseen the game’s immense popularity to make updating it easier. In an interview with PC Gamer, Barone, also known as ‘ConcernedApe,’ discussed his process for deciding what goes into each update, including the substantial Stardew Valley 1.6 update released on PC in March, which is still pending for consoles.
Barone explained that his updates are primarily driven by his own whims and personal experiences while playing the game. “Mostly, it’s just how I feel, my whims. It helps when I play the game myself, then I will get ideas; ‘Man, I wish this was in the game,’ or a spark of an idea,” he said.
While player feedback does influence the game to some extent, Barone emphasized that it is not the main guide for his decisions. “I do look somewhat at player feedback and requests, but it’s not the ultimate compass that I navigate by. I try to follow my feelings and intuition. What I think would make the game more fun,” he added.
Despite his passion-driven approach, Barone acknowledged the significant workload each major update entails. Reflecting on the game’s success, with over 30 million copies sold, he remarked, “If I had known how popular Stardew Valley would be and how many updates and languages [it would receive], I would have spent more time up-front in a way to make my life easier for making all these updates.”
Barone hinted that this experience might influence his approach to developing his next game, Haunted Chocolatier. Although he is eager to resume work on his new project, his current focus is on resolving issues with the 1.6 update. While he envisions eventually moving on from Stardew Valley, for now, he remains deeply committed to the game that launched his career.
