Stardew Valley creator Eric ‘ConcernedApe’ Barone has confirmed work on his next game, Haunted Chocolatier, is still ongoing, despite pausing development to focus instead on Stardew Valley updates.
In a new blog post, the creator noted it had been “a little sad to see Haunted Chocolatier getting dusty on the shelf”, but as he got involved in the Stardew Valley 1.6 update as it grew from technical changes to content additions, it “kind of snowballed” and pulled him away from the next game.
The 1.6 update arrived on consoles last month, meaning Barone is now free to continue development of Haunted Chocolatier.
Barone explained his “strong sense of duty and obligation” to Stardew Valley players, but said he has a “strong desire to make more games”.
“I like making games, and I have a lot more that I want to share, with Haunted Chocolatier and beyond,” he wrote. “And even though Haunted Chocolatier has only been revealed publicly to a tiny degree, in my own private world it’s a special place, and I’m very attached to the characters, themes, and ideas.”
Before the release of 1.6, Barone had a “vertical slice” of Haunted Chocolatier, with the skeleton and most of its bones in place.
“My next task will be to tweak the existing bones until I’m happy with them, add all the rest of the bones, and then flesh it all out with all the content that will need to be in the game,” he wrote. “Yes, it’s going to be a lot of work still, but it’s okay, I’m addicted to the grind.”
The release of Haunted Chocolatier is still quite a way away, then, but Barone won’t be doing any early access, crowdfunding, or pre-orders ahead of its full launch.
“I will not release a game unless it is complete and I am very happy with it, and I think that’s what most people would want, anyway,” he surmised, though he will still be releasing development updates on occasion.
Barone first revealed Haunted Chocolatier in October 2021, with Stardew Valley fans eager to find out more on his next project.
While similar to Stardew Valley in aesthetic, the game will see players running a haunted chocolate shop, along with monster hunting and life sim elements.