Stardew Valley’s Eric Barone embraces his “amateur” status as he aims to preserve the “indie soul” of his upcoming game, Haunted Chocolatier, despite nearly 50 million copies sold.

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After 15 years of development and a decade of post-launch support, you might expect Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone, the creator of Stardew Valley, to feel like a seasoned game developer. Surprisingly, he still sees himself as an amateur and hopes that mindset will keep the indie spirit alive in his upcoming project, Haunted Chocolatier.

“I’m a very amateur developer,” Barone shares. “I still feel that way. I’m just a total amateur.” He credits the addition of more developers to assist with aspects like localization and multiplayer for helping him, but he still describes his game-making style as “very scrappy.”

“I’ve never really become super professional in the way I do things,” Barone adds, “but I think that’s part of what gives Stardew Valley and hopefully Haunted Chocolatier its indie soul—it’s not overly polished. There are some rough edges.”

In a comprehensive interview, Barone discusses a variety of topics, including the possibility of Stardew Valley 2, his vision for an “infinitely replayable” farming RPG without AI, and some still-hidden secrets. Despite Stardew Valley approaching 50 million units sold, it seems the “indie soul” remains intact.

“My mindset is that I never think of myself as a master of anything,” Barone concludes. “I feel like I’m not good enough and need to improve. This mindset drives me to always strive for betterment rather than settling for perfection. I constantly need to work on enhancing every aspect of development.”

“I am not going to abandon Haunted Chocolatier,” Barone states, acknowledging, “I know I shouldn’t have announced the game so early.”