Back in January, Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone promised that the long-awaited 1.6 update will "absolutely" be out sometime in 2024. And he wasn't kidding: Barone revealed today—the eighth anniversary of Stardew Valley's release, by the way—that the update will arrive on PC on March 19.
"It's the 8th anniversary of Stardew Valley," Barone tweeted. "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."
It's been a long time coming, to put it mildly. Barone revealed the 1.6 update in November 2022 with a warning that it was mostly for the benefit of modders and "won't be huge," but then it got huge anyway: New content will include three new in-game festivals, a new kind of farm, new items and crafting recipes, more than 100 new lines of dialogue, support for eight-person multiplayer on PC, "new late-game content, which expands on each of the skill areas," and more—plus all the stuff for modders that this update was supposed to be about in the first place.
In theory at least, the completion of the 1.6 update should signal that work on Barone's next game, Haunted Chocolatier, will resume in earnest: He announced in April 2023 that he was taking a break from that project (although he's still dropping teasers now and then) to focus on the Stardew Valley update, after which it would be "back to HC." But it sounds like Stardew could continue to occupy his time for a good while yet.
"With a new update on the horizon, a worldwide concert tour underway, an official cookbook coming soon, and now over 30 million copies sold, Stardew Valley is thriving more than ever," Barone tweeted. "As always, I'm eternally grateful to the players (you!) for making all of this possible.
"Now, back to the grind. See you in 3 weeks."
(That off-the-cuff comment about Stardew Valley having now sold more than 30 million copies is notable in its own right. When last we checked, in November 2022, Stardew had sold 20 million copies: Another 10 million sold in a little over a year since then is nothing short of astonishing for a game that's now eight years old.)
The full patch notes for the Stardew Valley 1.6 update haven't been shared yet. I've reached out to Barone to see if we can get an up-close look at what's coming, and will update if he says yes.
