Stardew Valley creator is dusting Haunted Chocolatier off the shelf

Following the release of Stardew Valley’s 1.6 update, which initially started as a technical update before pivoting to a content one, creator Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone, is now taking aim at working on his other project, Haunted Chocolatier. He felt a strong sense of obligation to the farming sim’s community.

Taking to the Haunted Chocolatier blog, Barone announced that he was more actively working on the project. He didn’t like putting it on the sideline, noting that he was “sad to see Haunted Chocolatier getting dusty on the shelf.” Now that the update is in the hands of both PC and console players, it means he can pivot some time away from the cozy farming sim to work on his other game.

In and of itself, Haunted Chocolatier isn’t super established within the public eye, it’s just known as Barone’s other game, if anyone even knew it existed. Prior to going ham on the 1.6 update, Barone had a skeleton of the game with most everything in place. His task now is to tweak those bones into something more in-depth.

Barone does not sugarcoat that the game is still a ways away from release, but even so, he’s not looking to do what many others have done and provide early access. Instead, he’s not releasing the game unless he is happy with it.

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Gabe has been a gamer since he was young, playing games like Pajama Sam, Freddi Fish, Guitar Hero, and whatever looked cool on GameFly. Ever since 2018, he's been infatuated with the inner workings of the gaming and entertainment industries, covering a wide range of topics from video games to TV and film. Starting as a contributor for PSX Extreme, he's worked his way up to its Managing Editor. Using what's he learned over the years, he founded Smash Jump to remind everyone to smash jump.