"I accept the blame": Stardew Valley creator ConcernedApe address broken mods after recent patch, says he will "release fewer, large patches" in future

gamesradar.com:

Following his recent release of 1.6.9 on PC, Stardew Valley creator and solo developer Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone is apologizing for any broken mods or incompatibilities - despite not actually working on "mods or mod frameworks" himself.

Stardew Valley fans have been eating good the past couple of weeks with patch 1.6 coming to consoles and 1.6.9 arriving on PC. The latter wasn't all smooth sailing, however, as players reported broken mods upon the update's launch. Addressing the matter, ConcernedApe says he's sorry. "I'm sorry to everyone whose mods broke," he writes. "While I only work on the base game (and not mods or mod frameworks), I accept the blame for this one."

Continuing, the dev explains his usual process when releasing updates and ensuring that mods aren't subsequently broken. "Normally, I coordinate with SMAPI to release our updates at the same time, then once you update SMAPI you should be good to go with your mods on the newest patch. However, I stupidly released the update last night without coordinating. There should be a SMAPI update soon which will fix things for most people."

The creator then details how he will "address the issue going forward," offering solutions and stating he "will release fewer, larger patches" as 1.6 is finally "stable" now. ConcernedApe says that he generally tries "as much as possible to consider modded players" when it comes to updates, and hopes that his currently planned fixes will "help to settle things down for modders and make the experience smoother going forward."

ConcernedApe is undeniably dedicated to Stardew Valley - he previously admitted that he still thinks he could "keep working on the game forever" and "could work on it for the rest of my life" while discussing the farming sim, after all. Although it means Haunted Chocolatier has been on the back burner, the creator's upcoming game will receive new updates "in time" and I'm personally thrilled to see so much devotion poured into Stardew Valley years on.