Developer Eric Barone, known as ConcernedApe, has given his latest update on the free 1.6 update for Stardew Valley on console and mobile platforms.
The long-awaited update is “still in progress,” and his small team’s primary focus is the port for the update.
Barone has been very open with fans on his social media, including commenting in groups and replying to comments, about the labor of love that has been Stardew Valley since it first launched (on PC) in February 2016. The update 1.6 dropped on March 19 on PC.
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“It would be a huge relief to me if they were ready today, but they aren’t, so all we can do is continue working on them until they are ready,” Barone said in the post on X. “I have not touched Haunted Chocolatier in a long time because I am committed to finalizing Stardew 1.6 first. To those who are frustrated or even [angry] about the timeline, I understand and accept full responsibility. To those who are patient and understanding, thank you, you make life better and reduce stress, and I appreciate it. [Back] to work.”
In the comments of the post, @bhollywood13 asked, “Why release the PC version first? And have everything get spoiled hella in advance- not fair; kinda fucking sucks.” If you are in any space where SDV fans conversate, you’ll be familiar with the sentiment.
Barone replied citing the issue with bugs that can corrupt files and are not as easily fixed through additional patches and hotfixes, which can be deployed within hours of the discovery of a bug.
“On Console, it takes much longer to get a patch into the hands of the players. So it’s ideal to have all major issues resolved before submitting to consoles. Otherwise players might have game breaking, or even save-corrupting bugs in the game for a week,” Barone said in the post. “The truth is, I didn’t expect console to take this long, but there have been technical issues with the porting process. I was originally hoping it would be maybe, 1 month apart max. At any rate, I feel bad about it.”
Stardew Valley fans have been treated to completely free updates to the game, including massive content troves full of endgame content, quality of life updates, and many many additions to the core content of the game.
A similar sentiment was felt (and addressed similarly) around the massive 1.5 update that released in December 2020. Console players got the release in February 2021, with mobile players getting the update in January of 2023.
In previous statements on social media, Barone has echoed the similar sentiment that the release of 1.6 is “on my mind every minute.”
Barone was the sole developer of Stardew Valley until update 1.4, after which he brought on developer Arthur Lee, known as Mr. Podunkian, who has since moved on. In December 2018, he said he would be forming a team to maintain and update Stardew. He worked with publisher ChuckleFish to develop the multiplayer code for the game, and split with them in 2019.
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