ConcernedApe, the sole developer of Stardew Valley, has a new project: Haunted Chocolatier. This game was announced in 2021, and according to the latest update on the game's website, it will still be a while before we can play it. This update also answer some questions and debunk some myths about the development of this game and Stardew Valley. Let's take a look:
"Haunted Chocolatier will be abandoned and the content will be added to Stardew Valley instead"
No. First, I am not going to abandon Haunted Chocolatier. But even if I did, I am not going to add it to Stardew Valley. Stardew Valley and Haunted Chocolatier are separate games. It doesn't even make sense from a technical perspective, as Haunted Chocolatier is written from scratch, it's not the same "engine" as Stardew Valley. You can't just copy and paste Haunted Chocolatier into Stardew Valley.
"The Stardew Valley updates are being used to test out ideas for Haunted Chocolatier"
Nope. When working on Stardew Valley, I'm not thinking about Haunted Chocolatier, and vice versa. I wouldn't "test something out" in Stardew Valley because that would be unfair to Stardew Valley, and also I don't want to spoil ideas for Haunted Chocolatier by adding them first to Stardew Valley. Also, Stardew Valley is a different game, so you can't really "test something" for Haunted Chocolatier in it in an accurate way.
"ConcernedApe is working on a new Stardew Valley update because he's burnt out on Haunted Chocolatier"
No, I'm working on a new Stardew update because it's a very popular game with a large, ever-growing playerbase, and I still have additional ideas for how to improve it.
"ConcernedApe said it's not coming out until 2030″
I didn't say that. I was asked in 2025 if it would come out within the next five years, and I said "I hope so". This is very different than saying "it's coming out in 2030". The bottom line is, I don't want to give a release date. The game will come out when it's done.
Anyway, the only thing that really matters is that I keep making progress on the game and release it. So I'm gonna get back to doing that now.
Thank you
-Ape
When this game finally comes out, we're sure it will be full of secrets and magical adventures, just like Stardew Valley with a bigger world. Are you looking forward to playing Haunted Chocolatier?