Eric Barone says he'd 'love to' make Stardew Valley 2 someday: 'A whole new set of characters, a whole new world, maybe capture some of that original energy that I had back in 2012'

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Maybe someday?

Hat mouse in spanish in Stardew Valley
(Image credit: ConcernedApe)

Stardew Valley debuted 10 years ago this month, but creator Eric Barone is still hammering away on it. He's also working on a whole new game called Haunted Chocolatier. It's a lot for one guy, and so you might reasonably think that there's not much room in there for thoughts of a full-on Stardew Valley sequel. But maybe there is.

"I would love to [make Stardew Valley 2] because it would just 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, when I started working with Stardew Valley," Barone said in a wide-ranging interview with IGN. "There's something fun about the number of possibilities in a whole new world, which I think would be fun for me. It'd be fun for my team. We'd be really excited about it."

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Stardew Valley player character standing outside of a green farm house with a heart over her head. Nearby, there's a black and white dog, and the farm is full of flowers and greenery.

(Image credit: ConcernedApe)

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In fact, Stardew Valley 2 almost became a real thing at one point: Barone said he was starting to work on it, but "for various reasons" opted to go with Haunted Chocolatier instead. "Haunted Chocolatier you could say is like the Stardew Valley 2, but it's a bit different of a game, so we'll see."

And it might actually happen. Barone said in 2025, for instance, that he "might eventually make a Stardew Valley 2," although he also said that "it's so much easier to just add more stuff to Stardew Valley than to make a whole new game from scratch."

One of the things that could open the door to an all-new Stardew Valley is that while Barone is one of the most famous solo game developers of all time (possibly the most famous), he's not "just one guy" anymore: He put a team together to help with development back in 2018, and "it's been really great," he told in IGN. "They do great work. They add their own unique sensibilities and ideas to the melting pot of Stardew Valley. There's just so many things that I couldn't have done on my own."

For the immediate future, though, I think it's safe to say that Barone's hands are full, even with the support of a team. He's still working on Haunted Chocolatier, which he recently confirmed is still in development and 100% going to happen, and he's also got the Stardew Valley 1.7 update on the go, which is looking like another big one.

Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

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