Even after 8 long age , ConcernedApe extend to give Stardew Valley fans more and more unbelievable subject .
There are plenty of TV game that exist to only stay democratic for the span of a few calendar month , and others can last a year or two . But the fact that after eight years Stardew Valley retain to be discussed , diddle , and updated by the creator just shows how much ConcernedApe cares about instrumentalist .
Record-breaking player numbers
ConcernedApe released Stardew Valley ’s 1.6 update on March 19 , which create a momentous manna from heaven in this agriculture sim ’s player count . in the first place relinquish on February 26 , 2016 , Eric Barone ’s indie plot was a bang and continue to be play and discussed . Although , I do n’t think anyone could ’ve predicted that this game would weaken its record of themost concurrent playersonce 1.6 dropped .
It once had a peak concurrent player tally of 94,000 back in December 2020 , but 1.6 smashed that disc to reach224,000 concurrent role player . That ’s a massive saltation from the last time Stardew Valley had an enormous player enumeration , but this just goes to show you how much fervor for more Stardew Valley content there is within the snug play blank space .
Since 1.6 was say to be the biggest update for Stardew Valley yet , players were eager to leap back in to depart a new playthrough and see what features it had to offer . And there are a monumental amount of feature film , as noted by the incredibly longchangelog .

More content than you can imagine
I hop into Stardew Valley 1.6 thinking there would be a few self-aggrandising changes , maybe some bug fixes and that would be all . On September 27 , 2023 , ConcernedApe posted this range on Twitter / X , which sparked a ton of excitement for 1.6 . Although this was six month before its eventual release , the message that was tease was enough for fans to go wild .
1.6 content sneak peek . no release date yetpic.twitter.com/vyhbFRkZ00
It ’s not often that you see aneight - year - old game continue to get turgid updateslike this , and I ’m not even sure if this is the last from this solo developer . This entropy on its own would be enough to compile into a good update , but what made this update even grander were the secrets and surprises .

Image: ConcernedApe
If you interpret the changelog , there are tons of raw item and features that were mistily explained . I conceive this is the best way to drop a line darn note of hand because being online during the first few days after 1.6 ’s outlet was exhilarate . Everyone was scrambling to check up on their old saves and set about new one to see what new content there was . Players were post their find online , such as the TerrariaMeowmere swordeaster ball .
From content that new actor could enjoy , to feature film that end game players could get excited for , I ca n’t even properly explain how much poppycock Stardew Valley 1.6 premise . The Mastery system reserve endgame participant to unlock rewards likeTrinkets , while anyone who create a new secret plan can participate in Modern festivals and purchase Quran from the Bookseller .
What 1.6 means to me
1.6 is a celebration of Stardew Valley in all its beautiful glory . The fact that a single developer , with the initial help of newspaper publisher Chucklefish Games , was able to create Stardew Valley from scratch with almost no prior TV secret plan developing experience is inspiring . I extremely recommend you register the chapter consecrate to Stardew Valley in Jason Schreier ’s Scripture “ Blood , Sweat , and Pixels . ” It dive deep into the evolution of Stardew Valley and how Barone make such a darling biz over many years of consecrate surd piece of work .
When I consider about how this 1.6 update compares to many other game updates , I think about the right-down amount of mental object and work ConcernedApe had to put into this as a solo developer . Meanwhile , he has also beenworking on a new form of address namedHaunted Chocolatier , which I ’m guessing is his main focal point now after 1.6 .
This is n’t to say that other plot developer do n’t put the same amount of effort into updates , because there are unmortgaged examples of that come about . Larian Studios continue to implement nifty updates for Baldur ’s Gate 3 month after month , while Arrowhead Game Studios is still contribute fun features into Helldivers 2 that make instrumentalist want to start right back into the fray .

Screenshot: PC Invasion
But to think that one someone has the skill , creativity , drive , and passion to create and keep content roll for Stardew Valley after near a 10 of being released is mind - boggling . It remind me of thestark contrast of Nintendo abandon the support for Animal Crossing : New Horizonsonly a year or two after its release . Fans continuously hash out this online and berate Nintendo for dropping financial support for such a vast winner of a game , especially since it was released right as the COVID-19 pandemic began .
I ’m so glad that players are enjoying Stardew Valley 1.6 , and I can imagine just how appreciative ConcernedApe is for the community and its feedback . Even if 1.6 is the final large update for this farming sim , players will preserve to play and engage with this secret plan for years to add up . Although you may be well-worn of theonslaught of farming game , Stardew Valley is here to stay .

Screenshot: PC Invasion