New Stardew Valley bug can apparently make you rich with an army of 999 lobsters, players insist "it's a feature" as creator Eric Barone says he'll look into it

Stardew Valley's latest update has accidentally added an incredibly useful bug that can net you almost a thousand lobsters from a single crab pot for a massive profit, but it probably won't be around for long as developer Eric 'ConcernedApe' Barone says he's going to "look into it."

Version 1.6.9 of the hit indie farm sim rolled out earlier this week, finally bringing the enormous content update that arrived on PC earlier in the year onto consoles and mobile, and giving all versions a tune-up simultaneously. A few small issues in the game have surfaced since, from a performance-impacting bug that can be alleviated by removing hats from your pets, to a glitch that's seeing chickens vanish into thin air under certain circumstances (which ConcernedApe says is the work of a coyote on the farm). This latest bug is far less of a problem, though, as it might let farmers hit the lobster jackpot.

Over on Twitter, user EdgarGomez tagged the Stardew developer in a post after accidentally stumbling across the fabled crustacean duplication station. "I tried to take a lobster from a Crab Pot but my inventory was full. Then when I made some space and took the lobster... there were 999 lobsters," they wrote. 

It's not clear if that series of actions is all you have to do to replicate this lobster dupe yourself, but I have little doubt that Stardew players determined to hone in on a new get-rich-quick scheme will already be descending on the game's beach to figure out the specifics. 

After all, 999 lobsters will sell for a lot – even before being cooked, each one is worth between 120 and 225 gold depending on their rarity and what profession you choose when leveling up your Fishing skill. In this case, they were worth 186,813 gold, so about 187 gold each, and fellow players are already trying to justify it as an intended feature that definitely shouldn't be removed, thank you very much.

"That's a feature, lobsters can just do that," one proclaims. 

"Noooo it's a feature not a bug!" another insists.

Sadly for those eager to raise their own army of lobsters, it probably won't be around forever with ConcernedApe already on the case, so if you want some free lobsters, be sure to get on it sooner rather than later.

After 8 years, Stardew Valley creator ConcernedApe has finally unlocked every achievement in his own farming sim - and he has some tips, too.