12 years on, Stardew Valley creator swears “On the honor of my family name, I will never charge money for a DLC or update for as long as I live”

Stardew Valley creator Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone promises that future updates for his beloved farming sim will be entirely free – just as previous ones have.

Development on Stardew Valley started a whopping 12 years ago now, with Barone acting as the impressive one-man studio behind the iconic indie gem. Since the game’s release in 2016, the solo dev has launched various updates – some small, many quite big. Each patch, whether minor or packed full of new content, hasn’t come as “DLC” or ever cost players a dime – and Barone assures that they’ll remain that way forever.

In a recent post, the creator promises this: “I swear on the honor of my family name, I will never charge money for a DLC or update for as long as I live.” Barone says that fans can hold him to his word if he ever goes back on it – though as a Stardew stan myself, I doubt he will. Especially when I consider massive past patches like this year’s 1.6 update and how they were free. “Screencap this and shame me if I ever violate this oath.”

This sentiment may also apply to Barone’s future games, too, as he doesn’t specify that he just means Stardew Valley – Haunted Chocolatier is on the way, after all. There’s no telling how many more cost-free updates Stardew will get, either. While the creator still thinks he could “keep working on the game forever,” he did admit that “at some point you have to move on.” For now, 1.6.9 is underway for PC players – whether there will be a 1.7.0 is still unknown.

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