Haunted Chocolatier development paused while dev works on Stardew Valley 1.6 update

Eric Barone, the sole creator of the hit farming-simulator and RPG, Stardew Valley, has temporarily paused development on his upcoming game, Haunted Chocolatier. The new game is another simulation-RPG, anticipated to be much darker than its spiritual predecessor.

Barone hasn’t detailed exactly how long he is pausing development for, but it is only temporary. The pause in development comes as a result of the Stardew Valley 1.6 update, which Barone announced during the summer of last year.

While we were told the grand 1.5 update for Stardew Valley would be the last big content update of its kind back in 2021, Barone clearly can’t stay away, and neither can fans. The 1.6 update will add new content to the game, but not at all on the same scale that the 1.5 update did. The new update will also feature more tools and resources for modders, and while Barone works to get it live, he’s had to halt his work on Haunted Chocolatier in the meantime.

The upcoming title will have more of a focus on combat, and rather than farming, players will be sourcing the means to make chocolate. This is all while engaging in plenty of the small-town living that we’re used to from Stardew Valley; expect charming NPCs to love and loathe, and plenty of secrets to be discovered.

In replies to Barone’s announcement on Twitter, fans obviously attempted to get more details regarding either game from the creator. When it comes to the Stardew Valley 1.6 update, Barone confirmed that there’ll be some more new dialogues. As for Haunted Chocolatier, Barone shared one interesting piece of information; the small town we’ll be living in is on the water, and there are docks.

While there’s no official release date for Stardew Valley’s 1.6 update, nor Haunted Chocolatier, we can be rest assured that Eric Barone is no doubt working tirelessly on either game at any given moment. As a solo developer, the best thing any fans of his work can give him is patience! We all know full well that any amount of waiting, when it comes to Eric Barone’s work, will be worth it.