When Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone announced back in April that his life-consuming farm-life sim would be getting another update, he described 1.6 as “mostly changes for modders (which will make it easier & more powerful to mod)”, saying the number of new additions would be “much less than 1.5.” He’s got Haunted Chocolatier to work on, after all.
Then he tweeted a picture of some kind of JojaMart gold parrot, suggesting the less-popular pro-capitalism side of Stardew would be getting a little love in the update. And now he’s shared a sneak peek of what the 1.6 update will contain, and it’s a lot more than just changes for modders.
Among the additions are “Joja alternatives to some of the end-game quests”, which is presumably what that greedy parrot’s connected to. There are also three festivals on the list (one major, two mini), as well as “100+ new lines of dialogue”, a new kind of farm, winter clothes for the inhabitants of Pelican Town, more items and crafting recipes, “New late-game content, which expands on each of the skill areas”, and support for eight-player multiplayer on PC.
Finally, Barone notes the 1.6 update will include “Many small additions and adjustments” as well as “New secrets & more” and adds that it’s still in development, and doesn’t have a release date yet.
One of the things we love about Stardew Valley is how much post-release support it’s had, growing like a well-tended crop into a game we’re constantly tempted to return to. Still, Barone has another game to make and when he moves on from Stardew there will still be modders adding to it for years to come. Can someone check Barone’s getting enough sleep and not, like, collapsing in a field at 2am?
