Stardew Valley Creator Talks Future Games

You heard of Eric ‘ConcernedApe’ Barone? Maybe the name doesn’t ring a bell, but his work probably will: he’s the fellow who pretty much single-handedly brought us Stardew Valley, a fabulously popular game that despite being close to two years old still has a passionate, rabid fan-base. The “Undertale” of 2016, if you’d like.

Anyway, you can’t rest on your laurels forever (unless you’re Harper Lee, and let’s face it, you ain’t), so ol’ Eric has been hard at work on another title. And over a Reddit Q&A the other day, he went into more detail about the game, as well as its setting.

Specifically, he said that the game would take place on the same “Planet” as Stardew valley, but it would by no means be a sequel or a prequel (although he did say a Stardew Valley 2 might happen in the distant future). Rather, he said:

"I am thinking of approaching my next game with a similar mindset to Stardew Valley—take a style of game that was never fully realized (or that changed trajectories, leaving unexplored possibilities), and carry on the tradition in my own weird way."

A game that’s never really been realized? Set in the same universe? That can only mean one thing: A fishing game!

That’s a joke, of course, we don’t know what he’ll be doing. All through the Q&A, he kept his future plans close to his chest, refusing to go into too much detail (for very good reason, I’d wager), although suggesting it was still a ways off. It's worth noting that this is not the "Stardew Valley meets Harry Potter" game that was referenced by Chucklefish earlier.

The whole Q&A is worth giving a read if you’re a fan of his work, or you just want to get another glimpse at what it’s like to be a solo indie developer in the modern market. But one thing is for sure: whatever his next game is, it’ll be sure to be an adventure.