Eric Barone, the creator of the successful farming sim Stardew Valley, mentioned that he’s got new projects in the pipeline and two of them are Stardew Valley spinoffs (via VG247).
Yes, I'm actually working on a couple of new projects. One takes place in the world of Stardew Valley, but is not a farming game. The other, I'm not 100% sure about the world yet, but it will tie into Stardew Valley in some way
— ConcernedApe (@ConcernedApe) February 11, 2020
“One takes place in the world of Stardew Valley, but is not a farming game. The other, I'm not 100% sure about the world yet, but it will tie into Stardew Valley in some way,” said the developer in a post to Twitter. This got a lot of people in a state of euphoria, given how good Stardew Valley is and the continual support Barone and his team pour into the game, which originally came out for PC in 2016. Now, the rural RPG is on seven platforms and the mobile versions linked with the PC version to let players sow on the go, and has sold a whopping 10 million copies worldwide.
Barone was quick to clarify that the projects are not ready to be shown off any time soon. “I want to avoid too much hype or speculation. I'd like to just make whatever game comes naturally to me without too much pressure or expectation,” he added. “I’m not setting out to make the next indie smash hit, I just want to make another game that I enjoy and am happy with. And to share some of my art & ideas with the world. If it becomes popular, I will be happy, but it’s not my focus.” That’s probably the best way to do development, especially if independent. Both games will be “single-player, top-down 2D games with pixel art styles,” much like Stardew Valley, and that these having been ticking along as the core game has been patched and updated.
Stardew Valley is out now for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch.
