Eric «ConcernedApe» Barone is halting development on the excellent-looking Haunted Chocolatier to get back on the tools for Stardew Valley, beginning construction on the all-consuming farm-and-life management sim's 1.6 update. This update will largely make life easier for the modding community on PC, but new game content has been promised as well, which is a nice treat for those of us on console.
Barone is one of those frustratingly talented individuals who are seemingly capable of excelling at everything they turn their hand to. Famously, he won the respect and admiration of gamers of all stripes by creating Stardew Valley, a stone-cold modern classic and arguably one of the best games ever made, almost entirely on his own.
He worked as sole designer, programmer, animator, artist, composer, and writer on the project. This effort only took him four and a half years, working 10 hours a day and seven days a week. Barone was handsomely rewarded for his hard work; at last count, Stardew Valley has shipped more than 20 million copies across all platforms, and the benefit of not having any partners is you don't need to split the proceeds. We prefer our sleep, honestly, and will likely never be millionaires because of that fact, but we digress.
Are you looking forward to Haunted Chocolatier? How much of your life did you lose to Stardew Valley? Reap what you sow in the comments section below.
Khayl Adam is the second best video game journalist Australia has ever produced, and his ambitions of world domination have (thus far) been curbed by the twin siren songs of strategy games and CRPGs. He has always felt an affinity with the noble Dachshund.
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