The creator of Stardew Valley, Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone, has reiterated his stance on paid DLC for his farming sim, but what does the future hold for Haunted Chocolatier?
Stardew Valley has remained extremely popular since its original 2016 release and has been ported to almost every major gaming platform. In that time, it has seen multiple free content updates, as recently as the 1.6 update in March 2024 adding a new farm type and many other features.
Currently, this update is only available for PC but a console release is in the works. Barone is also busy working on a new game, Haunted Chocolatier, but he recently took a moment to comment on the possibility of future updates for Stardew Valley.
Will Stardew Valley get paid DLC?
ConcernedApe reiterated that Stardew Valley will not receive paid DLC at any point.
After giving an update on the console and mobile release of Stardew Valley 1.6, ConcernedApe fielded some questions from fans. In response to a fan on Twitter, Barone was extremely explicit that there would be no paid DLC for Stardew Valley.
He added that he won’t be saying anything about the console release for Stardew Valley 1.6 until he has something meaningful to share. It’s still unclear how long that might be. No release date or estimated window was given. Stardew Valley 1.6 was comparatively small in terms of how much it added to the game, but included major changes to the game engine. That has seemingly made a port more difficult than fans were hoping.
Will Haunted Chocolatier have paid DLC?
Haunted Chocolatier likely will not have paid DLC, but nothing is set in stone regarding the game.
As it stands, it’s far too early to tell if Haunted Chocolatier will follow suit and only ever see free DLC. After all, the game still lacks a release date and, much like Stardew Valley, Barone is working on it entirely on his own. Haunted Chocolatier needs to come out before any plans are set in stone regarding post-launch updates, paid or unpaid.
However, given his approach to Stardew Valley, it’s likely a safe bet that there won’t be paid DLC for Haunted Chocolatier, either.
Just like Stardew Valley, Haunted Chocolatier will be another single-player life-sim, though players will be managing a confectionery instead of a farm. Players will need to collect ingredients for making confections, while interacting with the locals and resident ghosts.