Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone (aka Concerned Ape) has confirmed that he is currently working on two new games and has even shared a few hints as to what they may be.
“Yes, I’m actually working on a couple of new projects,” says Barone. “One takes place in the world of Stardew Valley but is not a farming game. The other, I’m not 100% sure about the world yet, but it will tie into Stardew Valley in some way.”
Barone has mentioned that he’s working on new games in the past, but ht has also indicated that he would prefer to focus on the continuing development of Stardew Valley rather than talk too much about those projects. As such, we’re not entirely sure where he is on the development of either game or even what we should realistically expect from either outside of these scant details that he offers.
That being the case, let’s see what we can glean from what information is available. We know that the first game Barone mentioned takes place in the Stardew Valley world but isn’t a farm game. There’s actually quite a bit of world-building done in Stardew Valley (even if it’s not always presented directly to the player). For instance, there’s the whole thing with the evil Joja Mart.
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However, if we had to guess, we’d bet that it might actually be a more adventure-RPG esque title that features an expanded version of the combat featured in Stardew Valley and perhaps even taps into the lore of the adventure guild or the guardian spirits that play a part in the Stardew Valley community center storyline. Again, that’s all speculative, but that feels like a natural expansion of the existing mythology.
That second project is a little trickier to break down. Because Barone doesn’t specifically say that it’s not a farming game, that certainly leaves the door open to the possibility that it could be. We’re also a little confused by his wording regarding the game’s world, but it sounds like it may make passing references to Stardew Valley while focusing on an entirely new area and ideas.
In any case, we’re excited to see what Barone works on next. Stardew Valley was one of the greatest games of the last generation, and it’s already inspired some interesting upcoming titles (even if it was heavily based on games like Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing).
Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014.