Stardew Valley 1.7 update may delay ConcernedApe's new cozy sim Haunted Chocolatier "a little," but "not as much as you might think"

Stardew Valley mastermind Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone recently unveiled a 1.7 update for his 2016 farming sim, telling fans it wouldn't "hinder" work on Haunted Chocolatier – but a new announcement from the developer highlights that it's not that simple.

Speaking on the official Haunted Chocolatier website, ConcernedApe answers the question on all fans' minds after the Stardew Valley 1.7 update confirmation – does it mean Haunted Chocolatier will take longer to release? "Maybe a little, but not as much as you might think," he explains. The dev then details how he has "a team" that helps him with Stardew Valley updates – a fact that has rung true since the 1.3 patch launched in 2018.

That means that, unlike with previous updates "in which I was fully, personally locked-in on content development the whole time," ConcernedApe has "been trying to take more of a 'creative director' role" in the team with 1.7 so that he can channel "the vast majority" of his attention on creating Haunted Chocolatier – and "so far, it's been pretty good." The dev will, however, eventually "spend a little more time" on 1.7 himself: "I need my hand to touch every piece of new content."

There's no telling when this will be, though, as he puts it: "It might even be after Haunted Chocolatier comes out" (although there are "no guarantees" either way). "At any rate," assures Concernedape, "Haunted Chocolatier will be released at some point." He doesn't want to abandon Stardew Valley to ensure no delays, as "the reality of my life is that I have a very popular first game that I still want to take care of, which means that my second game might take a little longer" – and that's just how things are.

"It is what it is. I didn't have to make a 1.7 update for Stardew Valley, but the game is still so popular (in fact, still growing) that it's hard to just stop improving it when there are still things that can be improved," concludes ConcernedApe. "But I hope the approach I am taking for Stardew Valley 1.7 will help keep Haunted Chocolatier on track." The dev then signs off after stating he's "working completely solo" on his new game with no plans "to change that."

Although it's not ideal for excited onlookers tracking Haunted Chocolatier's progress, it's big news for those of us who are still so invested in Stardew Valley, and it lines up with what the dev has previously said – that he could "keep working on the game forever" and "for the rest of my life" while discussing the sim. ConcernedApe teased updates "maybe even 50 years from now" for Stardew Valley as well before unveiling 1.7.

ConcernedApe is bringing Stardew Valley's most infamous minigame to Haunted Chocolatier, and fans are already lining up to ask if fishing will be "as ridiculously hard"