It’s fair to say there haven’t been too many Broadway performances with a raucous applause break for the mention of a forthcoming video game patch. And yet, The Town Hall, a 103-year-old music venue in midtown Manhattan, erupted last night at composer Eric Barone’s mention of “the 1.6 update.”
He is, of course, talking about the next major update to Stardew Valley, scheduled for release on March 19 on Windows PC. Barone, better known to the world as ConcernedApe, is the creator of Stardew Valley and the composer of the game’s soundtrack. He was visiting New York as part of a live concert series for the game, with 45 shows happening across the United States, Asia, Europe, and Oceania (most of which sold out in minutes).
Despite the fan fervor, the show feels intimate, with around a dozen musicians performing newly arranged classics from the Stardew Valley soundtrack, mostly following the chronological events of the game, as the seasons go from spring to winter, with some special moments highlighting the various festivals and villagers in the game.
Speaking with Polygon, Barone specifically called out one of his favorite tracks. “‘Dance of the Moonlight Jellies’ is, of course, a big hit. And it’s a special song and it takes place in a tender moment in the game. So I was really happy to see that one.”
Barone worked with Thanapol Setabrahmana, a composer from Thailand, who helped arrange Stardew Valley’s digital soundtrack into something that could be performed by a live orchestra. The end result perfectly captured the chill vibes of the farming sim (save for a brief segment of the show dedicated to the Indiana Jones-esque Journey of the Prairie King minigame, which definitely got the blood pumping).
Beyond the concert series, Barone is predictably focused on the 1.6 update. “It’s stressful, but it’s also exciting,” he said. “The releases are the most fun part of game development. It’s when you actually see people playing it and talking about [the game] and sharing their screenshots. So I’m really looking forward to that. It’s also a time of high intensity. The patch is pretty much ready to go. But there’s a few things I still need to do. Until everything is totally sealed, it’s going to be a little bit stressful.”
A fair bit is known about the 1.6 update, which will add new festivals, a host of late-game content, and even cold-weather outfits for the villagers during winter, but Barone says what’s publicly known is only scratching the surface. “What I released is just a little bit. There’s a lot more of the update than people think,” he said.
When asked to compare it to the 1.5 update, an enormous patch that added a brand-new island to the world of Stardew Valley, Barone said this one is a little different. “It’s more focused on the valley and the core areas of the game. It just adds so much stuff to all the different aspects of the game.”
After the patch launches, Barone’s focus will be on squashing bugs as well as bringing the update to consoles and mobile platforms as quickly as possible. He says working on the Stardew Valley update has forced him to press pause on his other game, Haunted Chocolatier, but he’s looking forward to getting back to it once version 1.6 is out in the world.
As for whether 1.6 will be the final major Stardew Valley update, Barone knows better than to make predictions. “I feel like I’m the boy who cried wolf, because I’ve said [this is the last update] many times myself and I always end up making another Stardew Valley update. So it’s like, I’ll just say, who knows? I don’t think I’ll ever officially close the book. The book is always open.”
