The iconic farming simulator Stardew Valley has announced that 30 million copies have been sold ahead of the new 1.6 patch. Eric Barone, the game’s developer/creator would post a special thank you message on X, via his handle ‘Concerned Ape’ about the upcoming patch release date:
It's the 8th anniversary of Stardew Valley. Thank you for all the support over the years! Today I am announcing the PC Release date for the 1.6 update: –March 19th–. Console & Mobile will follow as soon as possible. pic.twitter.com/dMEFydjSqC
— ConcernedApe (@ConcernedApe) February 26, 2024
The game update will be coming to the eight-year-old title on March 19 and brings with it a host of changes to the 8-bit environs.
Set to drop on PC initially and to consoles “as soon as possible” according to the series creator.
The last patch for the game was way back in December 2021, so this news will delight the series’ hardcore fans looking for more mod support. Barone, did reply to a fan asking “Will Stardew get more future updates like 1.6 and 1.7?”
He said in his reply on X that in regards to patch “1.6, yes. But it’s mostly a modding-focused update (which makes modders’ lives easier). There will be some new content but it won’t be huge. 1.7? Who knows.”
The success of the title has remained throughout its near-decade-long life and despite the intermittent content updates, there is a thriving modding community that has released unofficial patches. As reported via Games Radar, a five-year-old mod reached over 2 million downloads this month.
Since September Barone has remained quiet about the patch farming fans have been eagerly waiting for. He did post a sneak peek of the items coming to the title, but until now the release date had never been confirmed.
In a post on X, Barone would show the improvements coming in 1.6:
1.6 content sneak peek. no release date yet pic.twitter.com/vyhbFRkZ00
— ConcernedApe (@ConcernedApe) September 27, 2023
These include alternative story quests and endings to the celled simulator and more than a hundred new lines of dialogue.
The popular festivals held in the town square of Pelican Town will see one new major and two unknown mini-events take place.
The success of the farming simulator isn’t contained to devices as Barone still has a real-world cookbook coming to delight fans of the in-game cuisine that can be crafted. The book’s page says that prospective cooks can celebrate “seasonal ingredients through unique recipes inspired by the game.”
On the game’s blog, Barone said the game’s “unique fare like the Lucky Lunch, Strange Bun, Seafoam Pudding, Pink Cake, and much more” will be incorporated in this release by Penguin Random House on May 14, 2024.
So fans of the title will have a new patch to help them grow and an upcoming recipe book to take on the real-life life-counterparts to the 8-bit fruits of their labor.
Image Credit: Stardew Valley.
