ConcernedApe is taking a brief break from Haunted Chocolatier's development in order to make a new update for Stardew Valley, one that will mostly focus on changes for modders.
Following its initial announcement trailer back in 2021, we haven't seen too much of Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone's next game, Haunted Chocolatier. We've been given some smaller updates here and there on how the game's development is coming along, but considering Barone confirmed that it was going to take "a while" back when it was announced, that's no surprise. The wait for it might be getting just a little bit longer, however.
Over on Twitter, ConcernedApe revealed that he's going to be taking a break from making Haunted Chocolatier in order to spend some time on Stardew Valley and update it to version 1.6. This update will mostly be focused on changes for modders, but it will also contain some new content, ConcernedApe confirmed.
ConcernedApe said, "There is going to be a Stardew 1.6 update. It's mostly changes for modders (which will make it easier & more powerful to mod). But there is also new game content, albeit much less than 1.5. I'm taking a break from Haunted Chocolatier to work on this at the moment. Then back to HC."
It's not clear from the tweet what changes are going to be made to Stardew Valley in order to make it easier to mod, but considering how massive the scene is for it, it's an exciting change. We also don't have a timeframe for the update right now, so it's not clear when we can expect it to launch, but since it's just Barone working on the game, it could be some time yet. Update 1.5 only just hit the mobile version of the game earlier this year, after all.
It's worth noting that update 1.5 was absolutely massive for Stardew Valley and featured a new world area, new farm features, and a ton of other content. Barone notes that this update will be a little slimmer on new content, which hopefully means that it's not too far off. This isn't the first time that Barone has confirmed 1.6 exists, either, as he previously mentioned it when the mobile version of 1.5 launched.
The same goes for Haunted Chocolatier, especially now that Barone is taking a little break from it - the game was never formally given a release date or window anyway, but if you were hoping for anything in 2023, that's not looking too likely to happen now.