Starfield Valley Update 1.6 Is "Larger In Scope" Than Originally Planned

thegamer.com:

ConcernedApe has confirmed that development for Stardew Valley's 1.6 update is now in the bug-fixing and polishing phase, and that it ended up being "larger in scope than originally planned".

Even though ConcernedApe still has a lot of work to do on his upcoming game, Haunted Chocolatier, that hasn't stopped him from continuing to update Stardew Valley. Back in April 2023, ConcerenedApe announced that he was working on the game's 1.6 update and, nearly a year later, he's confirmed that the update is nearly ready for release and in the "bug-fixing and polishing phase".

Over on Twitter, ConcernedApe tweeted that he'd finished adding major content to update 1.6 and that he's not working on polishing it up for its currently-undated release. Perhaps unsurprisingly considering how massive Stardew Valley updates tend to be, he also revealed that it ended up being "a little larger in scope" than he originally planned, but said that it'll "absolutely" release in 2024.

Although update 1.6 will work for anyone loading up an old save, ConcernedApe suggested to players that they start a new game to experience all of the content "in context", as using an old save with the update will result in the player just unlocking a bunch of new stuff straight away. That's still a viable way to play, but it does suggest that the update is going to be pretty sizeable.

"it'll be fine to play on an old save, but I'd probably recommend a new save just to experience everything in context, otherwise you'll unlock a bunch of stuff right away when you load up your old save"

As for what's actually going to be a part of update 1.6, ConcernedApe previously said that he was "keeping mostly everything secret" until it actually launches. That hasn't stopped him from teasing a few new things that are coming with the update, including winter outfits for every character, a new major festival, new late-game content that expands on different skill areas, and, of course, a bunch of new items and crafting