It's been 7 years since Stardew Valley was released, but its creator keeps working on it because it's their "life's work"

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Eric 'ConcernedApe' Barone says they "care a lot" about their hit farming sim

Stardew Valley
(Image credit: Chucklefish)

The creator of Stardew Valley has called the farming sim his "life's work" and revealed it's the players that motivate him to keep developing it. 

Over the weekend, Eric 'ConcernedApe' Barone took to Twitter to tell fans that he's in "extreme crunch mode" for Stardew Valley's 1.6 update - which is set to release sometime soon. After updating fans about the upcoming update's new storage solutions, one fan asked the developer what keeps him motivated to continue working on Stardew Valley - especially since it launched seven years ago now. 

"Many things," ConcernedApe responded, "including that so many people are still playing it, and many new people every day." Talking about their goals for the farming sim, the developer added: "I want it to be the best it can be, it will never be perfect but I feel an urge to keep improving it. Up to this point, it's been my life's work and I care a lot about it"

There's no denying that ConcernedApe is dedicated to the cause. Since Stardew Valley's release in 2016, we've had over 30 updates to the laid-back life sim including small bug fixes to large content updates and everything in between. The game's next big overhaul, the Stardew Valley 1.6 update, will feature things like more modding support, pets in hats, wild horseradish juice, and "secrets." 

The biggest secret of all is when ConcernedApe plans to grace our farms with all this new content, to which the developer has said the Stardew Valley 1.6 update will release "when it's ready."

In the meantime, find something new to play with our games like Stardew Valley list. 

Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.