Stardew Valley creator is working on two new games

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One project is set in the same world as Stardew Valley but isn't a farming game, while the other will tie into it "in some way."

Stardew Valley
(Image credit: Eric Barone)

Eric Barone has spent years working on Stardew Valley, shepherding it from Steam Greenlight in 2012 to ten million copies sold in 2020. Amidst all that, he's also hinted at other projects now and then, although his dedication to Stardew Valley has always taken priority: The last we heard about such things was a little over a year ago, when Barone said that he'd put an unannounced project on hold so that he could focus on the farm.

But on Twitter today, he confirmed that the wheels are turning on new games.

The first project sounds quite a bit like what Barone teased in October 2017, when he said that his next game was set "on the same planet" as Stardew Valley, but isn't a sequel or expansion. Alas, no further information has been provided since then.

"I’ve been deliberately secretive about it because I want to be able to work on it without any pressure for the time being," Barone said in the December 2018 devblog announcing that the project was on hold. "I also want to make sure the concept is fully realized before revealing anything, because once it’s out there, I’m going to have to fully commit to it. I’m a pretty cautious person when it comes to this sort of thing."

One thing we do know is that it's not Witchbrook, the magic school RPG announced in 2018 by Chucklefish that has been at times wrongly credited to Barone. Chucklefish published Stardew Valley prior to December 2018 (and still does on mobile), which occasionally leads to confusion about who "makes" the game; Barone clarified the nature of the relationship in a September 2019 update, and clarified today that he is not involved in the development of Witchbrook.

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.