After the supposedly final flourish of 1.6, Stardew Valley creator says 'I could keep working on the game forever' and is 'not going to say the book is closed'
Earlier this year Stardew Valley received patch 1.6, a final flourish from the game's creator Eric «ConcernedApe» Barone that added a host of new features to a game that's now over eight years old. PC Gamer got the opportunity to talk to Barone in our latest issue about this apparent full stop, and how the developer feels about a game that has now shifted north of 30 million copies.
Update 1.6 arrived in March and, among other things, added a new farm type, support for 8 player co-op, and late game content. But perhaps even more characteristic of it was the sheer number of little things it addressed, like a sword glitch that had irritated its developer for eight years. «Mostly, it's just how I feel, my whims,» says Barone of how these updates come together. «It helps when I play the game myself, then I will get ideas: 'Man, I wish this was in the game', or a spark of an idea.»
As for the small stuff, some of it seems sparked by player queries (like the abomination of drinkable mayonnaise) «I do look somewhat at player feedback and requests, but it's not the ultimate compass that I navigate by,» says Barone. «I try to follow my feelings and intuition. What I think would make the game more fun.»
As for the game's phenomenal success, «it's great! I'm glad people like Stardew Valley so much. The more people enjoy it, the deeper they enjoy it, the happier I get.» Well, there is one thing that's a little annoying: «If I had known how popular Stardew Valley would be and how many updates and languages [it would receive], I would have spent more time up-front in a way to make my life easier for making all these updates.»
One thing Barone was at pains to do with 1.6 was ensure broad compatibility with Stardew Valley's enormous modding scene (players can even opt-out entirely if it'll keep their mods going). «The lore of the world and characters has taken on a life of its own beyond what I thought possible» says Barone, later addressing narrative mods in particular. «I am open
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