Stardew Valley creator says he had his reasons to announce Haunted Chocolatier so early, and "if I don't post for a while, it doesn't mean I have abandoned the game"

Now that update 1.6 is finally available to all Stardew Valley players, solo developer Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone is diverting his attention back to Haunted Chocolatier - and even though he announced the new game "kind of early," he assures fans it's still underway.

Speaking in a recent update on the official Haunted Chocolatier website, ConcernedApe first admits that he's "been a little sad to see Haunted Chocolatier getting dusty on the shelf," but says he can't just easily "let go" of Stardew Valley "to work on something that isn’t already established and meaningful to people" yet. That doesn't mean that the long-awaited new sim isn't ever going to come to fruition, however.

ConcernedApe describes himself as having "a strong desire to make more games," namely Haunted Chocolatier - and he knows his fans can't wait to play, too. "I know many people are excited to play Haunted Chocolatier," he writes, "and may be disappointed to hear that it will still take a while, or that I took time away to work on Stardew Valley." He understands, but he also states there's a good reason it's taking longer.

"I understand. I will be very happy when the day comes that I can finally release Haunted Chocolatier," says the creator. "However, as with Stardew Valley, I will not be doing any 'early access,' crowdfunding, or pre-orders, so I don't feel a ton of external pressure to finish the game on a timeline." The biggest reason he feels "pressure" is actually of his own doing - it's because he "announced the game kind of early."

This "built up excitement, meaning that if I take a long time, people might become sad" - but, regardless, ConcernedApe "will not release a game unless it is complete and I am very happy with it." He assures the community that if he doesn't post updates on Haunted Chocolatier's progress for a while, "it doesn't mean I've abandoned the game." According to the solo dev, he simply prefers to share "when I have something complete and worthy."

He'd rather post updates that way "than share a bunch of stuff that is unfinished, and therefore not in accordance with the final vision." Despite his lack of public sharing and continued work on Stardew Valley, however, one fact remains for certain. As ConcernedApe himself puts it, fans should "know that the game will eventually be finished and come out" - and I, for one, can't wait until that day finally arrives.

The first part of the huge Baldur's Gate 3-themed Stardew Valley mod is complete, and "it won't be long now" until its release