ConcernedApe, real name Eric Barone, has revealed he actually began working on Stardew Valley 2, a full-fledged sequel to the original, before pivoting over to Haunted Chocolatier. Here’s what ideas he had in mind for it.
A full decade on from the release of Stardew Valley 1.0, and formerly solo developer ConcernedApe still hasn’t been able to fully move on. The cozy farming experience has sold tens of millions of copies on its way to becoming Steam’s highest-rated game ever.
As such, the dev, now working with a larger team, is still working on new content. In fact, he just revealed some of the new content on the way as part of the 1.7 update. But will he ever pivot to making a full-on sequel instead?
While his earlier comments have indicated he’s certainly open to the idea, it’s never really gained much traction as he’s been busy with a new game in the Haunted Chocolatier. However, we now know he actually did start on a Stardew Valley 2, and he’s discussed various ideas for what it might one day look like.
ConcernedApe teases ideas for Stardew Valley 2
“I might eventually make Stardew Valley 2, to be honest,” the popular dev said back in May, 2025. Now, he’s doubled down, reaffirming his thoughts on one day releasing a proper sequel.
“Would you ever consider doing a Stardew Valley 2 instead of just continuing to update?” IGN asked him in a February 3, 2026 interview. “Yeah, I would,” ConcernedApe replied.
“In fact, I would love to 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 I had back in 2012 when I started working with Stardew Valley.”
That’s the allure of a sequel, at least to some degree, transporting the novel gameplay structure to “a whole new world. I think [it] would be fun for me. It’d be fun for my team. We’d be really excited about it,” he said.
However, there are multiple roadblocks for the time being. Chief among them is the Haunted Chocolatier, a new game ConcernedApe has been working on for a number of years now. In some respect, while different at its core, he’s even looking at it as “like the Stardew Valley 2” he envisioned years prior.
The other roadblock is the community’s fondness for the original experience. How could you move to a new location with a whole new cast of characters when players have grown so attached?
“I do fear a little bit… people might feel put off by that,” he said.
“I guess another approach to Stardew Valley 2 could be to use the existing cast, but it’s like a new adventure in the world, but then I’m still stuck with the same thing. I’d have to think about that one.”
Evidently, ConcernedApe has given it a bit of thought, and as it turns out, he revealed he even got stuck in developing one of the ideas for a sequel.
“There was a time where I was starting to work on a Stardew Valley 2,” he confirmed. “But I don’t know. For various reasons I moved over to Haunted Chocolatier instead.”
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