Stardew Valley developer confirms completion of 1.6 update content and plans for release this year

Stardew Valley creator, Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone, has provided an update on the highly-anticipated 1.6 update for the life simulation game. He announced that the addition of new features has been completed and assured fans that the update will definitely be released this year. Initially, Barone had indicated in June 2022 that the 1.6 update would be relatively small and stable. However, the scope of the update has expanded considerably since then. Last September, Barone confirmed that the update will feature a new major festival, two minor festivals, new items and recipes, additional dialogue lines, a new farm type, late-game content, winter clothing for villagers, a new chest, and 8-player co-op on PC. Furthermore, the update will include an important addition of hats for cats and dogs.

Barone is currently taking a break from his upcoming game, Haunted Chocolatier, in order to finalize the 1.6 update. In December, he revealed that progress had been made and was personally committed to completing the work on 1.6. In a recent social media update, he announced that the addition of new content has been finished, and his focus will now shift to resolving bugs and refining the update until it is ready for release. He expressed gratitude for the patience of fans and excitement to see everyone enjoy the new content. Despite the update turning out larger than initially planned, Barone confirmed that it will be released this year in response to queries from eager fans.

The previous major update for Stardew Valley, version 1.5, was launched in February 2021. It seemed that Barone was ready to move on after that, as in October of the same year he announced his next project, Haunted Chocolatier – a mysterious and dark take on the Stardew Valley concept, featuring “magical chocolate” among other elements. However, Barone temporarily set aside work on Haunted Chocolatier in April to focus on the Stardew Valley 1.6 update, indicating that he may resume work on the new project soon.