Haunted Chocolatier Bigger Than Stardew Valley: ConcernedApe

Stardew Valley creator Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone has revealed that his new project, Haunted Chocolatier, will be "larger" than the already expansive Stardew Valley.

But what exactly does "larger" mean? Barone hasn't provided specifics—his entire statement simply reads: "The world of Haunted Chocolatier is larger than Stardew Valley." If he’s referring to playtime, Stardew Valley already offers substantial content, with How Long to Beat reporting an average of over 50 hours for the main story and nearly 170 hours for completionists.

As expected, these brief remarks sparked excitement among fans. One enthusiastic supporter exclaimed: "\[ConcernedApe\] STOP TEASING. I MEAN—DON’T STOP TEASING. I MEAN—IDK, I’M SO EXCITED BUT I DON’T WANT YOU TO RUSH. TAKE YOUR TIME—WE LOVE YOU."

Barone recently shared that he didn’t want to be solely known as "the Stardew Valley guy," which partly explains his focus on Haunted Chocolatier. However, don’t expect a release date anytime soon—he confirmed there’s "still a lot to be done," especially since he insists the game must surpass Stardew Valley in quality.

That said, Barone hasn’t ruled out eventually creating a Stardew Valley 2. But before fans get too excited, he clarified that expanding the original game is far easier than building an entirely new one from scratch.

"All the major systems are already in place—that’s the tedious part," he explained. "When I update Stardew Valley now, it’s like, ‘Hey, let’s add this, throw in that.’ Like green rain—just random, fun ideas."

Barone first announced Haunted Chocolatier in 2021, describing it as another top-down, pixel-art simulation game with the same distinct charm as his previous work.