As the gaming world watches and waits, Stardew Valley creator Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone says he’s feeling the pressure to ensure that the follow-up, Haunted Chocolatier, meets everyone’s expectations.
Speaking to GQ in a wide-ranging interview, Barone touches on how the creative process differs this time around and that it hasn’t been an easy adjustment. While he had all the time in the world to create Stardew Valley, the fans that game has amassed over the years are now eagerly awaiting Haunted Chocolatier.
“I’ve been struggling with that,” he says, “because I really want to recapture that feeling that I had when I was making Stardew Valley. Back then, there was no audience, there was no precedent. Everyone’s watching me, and if I don’t do things a certain way, it might disappoint millions of people.”
Further reflecting on Stardew Valley, Barone says it was initially a “dumb little project” he used to get better at programming while he “couldn’t find a job.” Now? A phenomenon.
“It’s kind of hard to fathom just how many people have played it, and the impact it’s had,” he says. “It was not part of the plan.”
Regardless, now five years since its initial announcement, Haunted Chocolatier is slowly taking shape at a pace Barone is setting for himself. Pressure or not. Thankfully, it looks to be shaping up nicely. Elsewhere in the interview, Barone describes it as a game for Stardew Valley players who yearn for the mines, which sounds quite ideal and worth the wait.