Eric Barone says he just can't "let go" of Stardew Valley "to work on something that isn’t already established and meaningful to people"

Stardew Valley is Eric 'ConcernedApe' Barone's pride and joy, and for good reason with more than 30 million copies sold, and he's expressed having some difficulty putting it down and moving on to other projects.

Of course, Barone announced his new project Haunted Chocolatier back in October 2021, but we've only heard crumbs of information and the odd screenshot in the years since. Well, in a new blog post specifically about Haunted Chocolatier, Barone revealed he's struggling a bit with how to balance development on new projects while keeping Stardew fans fed.

"It’s been a little sad to see Haunted Chocolatier getting dusty on the shelf… but this is the reality of my situation," Barone said. "Stardew Valley is a big and popular game, and I have a lot of attachment to it. I also feel a strong sense of duty and obligation to all the people who have bought Stardew Valley over the years, granting me this rare opportunity to be an indie game developer. So it’s hard to 'let go' of Stardew, even temporarily, to work on something that isn’t already established and meaningful to people."

The rest of the blog very much reads like a commitment to still deliver Haunted Chocolatier at some point, with the substantial caveat that that undefined point is probably a long ways away. While Barone said he's done "a ton of work" on Haunted Chocolatier, he also admitted that it still needs a whole lot more before it's ready for release.

In the meantime, brush up on these Stardew Valley tips for making money, avoiding sleep, and growing the best darn farm you can.