Stardew Valley developer ConcernedApe (real name Eric Barone) is dropping Chucklefish as the game's producer on Nintendo Switch. This means Barone will self-publish Stardew Valley on all platforms except mobile going forward.
This news comes via a tweet on Barone's official Twitter account. In a series of replies to the tweet, Barone breaks down exactly what this change will mean. He says he now "[has] full responsibility for the game on Switch", which means he'll be handling the game's marketing and distribution on Nintendo's platform. Otherwise, he says, nothing has changed.
The decision to self-publish also means that a physical Switch version of Stardew Valley is now entirely in Barone's hands. He says he has "no promises" about this happening but that he'll do his best. If you're worried about this affecting console ports of the game, don't be. Porting work on other platforms is handled by Sickhead Games, and Barone says he's still working with that studio. This decision only affects the Nintendo Switch version of Stardew Valley right now.
Barone has also clarified his position on the PlayStation Vita version of Stardew Valley. With Sony recently ending production of the console in Japan, the fate of many Vita indie games is uncertain. Unfortunately for Vita fans, although the game will get a patch to address some bugs and issues, there won't be any more content updates for the game on that platform going forward. Barone says this is because of "the technical limitations of Vita" coupled with the way Stardew Valley's code works in version 1.3.
Since Barone is now self-publishing on all platforms except mobile, he could well be intending to take over publishing duties entirely in the future. In the meantime, work on his next game is fully underway, apparently. Barone hasn't revealed many details about the game because he's "not ready to deal with the hype yet". We'll likely learn more about that game in the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned.
What do you think of Barone taking on more of the publishing duties? Think he's right to move away from Chucklefish? Let us know in the comments below!
