Stardew Valley’s Surprising 1.7 Update Promises Even More Content Than Anticipated
Stardew Valley is approaching its 10th anniversary, and it shows no signs of slowing down. Developer Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone, who initially planned to shift focus to his next project, Haunted Chocolatier, is now diving back into Stardew Valley with news of an upcoming update.
In a recent interview, Barone shared some thrilling insights about the game’s 1.7 update. One of the most exciting announcements is the addition of two new marriage candidates, though their identities will remain a mystery until the game’s anniversary on February 26. He also hinted at much-anticipated enhancements to the game’s children, which many players have found to be somewhat lackluster.
Other potential features for the 1.7 update include a farm map editor, allowing players to create their own maps rather than relying on the existing presets. Barone even suggested the possibility of a social feature for sharing map designs, emphasizing his commitment to keeping the game engaging without the use of generative AI: “I’m interested in ways to make the game more just infinitely replayable without the use of AI. That’s never going to happen.”
Barone has been teasing the 1.7 update since September, but prior to this interview, he had only vaguely mentioned “new character/social stuff” and the expected new farm type.
Beyond the 1.7 update, he also expressed interest in developing Stardew Valley 2, having even started work on a sequel at one point before putting it on hold. “In fact, I would love to because it would be fun to work on a whole new set of characters, a whole new world, maybe capture some of that original energy that I had back in 2012,” he noted.
While Barone has ambitious plans for Stardew Valley, he has also been candid about the challenges of balancing new content with his work on Haunted Chocolatier. In a blog post from last month, he mentioned that he feels he “shouldn’t have announced the game so early.”
Barone has been oscillating between the two projects quite a bit. Initially, he had stated that Stardew Valley wouldn’t receive a 1.7 update, committing to focus solely on Haunted Chocolatier until it was complete. However, in this latest interview, he confirmed that he is still working on both games and has even expanded his team to help manage updates for Stardew. While he acknowledged that “the progress isn’t as fast as I would like,” he feels he can take his time with Haunted Chocolatier due to its lack of preorders and crowdfunding.
For now, the 1.7 update should keep players engaged. The addition of new marriage candidates is particularly intriguing. Are we getting entirely new characters? Does the introduction of exactly two candidates hint at some dramatic developments in the town? We’ll have to wait until February 26 to uncover the details.
