The future of Stardew Valley is uncertain, although that's not as ominous as it sounds at first glance. Developer Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone has a lot of things he'd like to do with his Farming RPG, but what he'll do next is a bit of a mystery.
Stardew Valley is a wildly popular Farming RPG that perfectly follows a well-established formula. Players are plopped down into the titular town with a farm, a few bucks in their pocket, and the freedom to do all sorts of activities. You can farm crops, make friends with villagers, raise animals, fish, and fight monsters in the mines. The best thing is that you can do some of these things or all of these things, however much you like.
The game has been out for a fair few years and Content Update 1.5 is well in development, but what comes after that? According to Barone, he isn't quite sure where things are headed.
"I’m very cautious about making changes to the base game," Barone said in an interview with Game Informer. "I really don’t want to mess with the early-game experience; I don’t want people to boot up the game and say, 'Wait, where’s my Stardew Valley?!' I always try to make sure that if there are big new things you can do in the early game, it’s extra. It’s peripheral. It’s not affecting the core experience of the game."
The Future of Stardew Valley
Eric Barone is a man who very much lives in the moment — so much so that he hasn't really decided what to do with the game in the long term.
That's not to say he doesn't have plans, mind. Two of the most common requests from players are for more marriage candidates and to make the game's children more useful. He has some ideas about both of those things, but adding these features means something else doesn't get developed. It's all a careful balancing act, especially because there are so many different ways to play the game.
Right now, the current focus is on developing Content Update 1.5. As with past updates, we won't know very much about its full scope until it's actually released. The big question, however, is what's going to happen beyond that. Will we get Content Update 1.6? Will there be a sequel?
"I’m not willing to commit to Stardew Valley 1.6,” he told Game Informer. "I will say that I definitely love Stardew Valley. I love it as a world and a universe. I don’t think [1.5] will be the end of Stardew Valley. I would not be surprised if there’s another Stardew Valley update, or multiple updates, or a Stardew Valley 2. Who knows?"
For now, there's still a lot of great content to enjoy in the game. If you haven't yet played Stardew Valley, you can buy it on PC for 10% off at the Humble Store; you can also get it on Steam or DRM-free on GOG at its full price of $14.99 or your regional equivalent. Console gamers can get it for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, or PlayStation 4 at the same price. Mobile gamers can get it for Android at the Play Store and iOS at iTunes for $7.99. And don't forget that you can also play it on your Tesla.
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What do you hope to see in future Stardew Valley updates? Would you want to see a Stardew Valley 2? Let us know in the comments below!
