Stardew Valley is an open-ended country-life role-playing game created by Eric Barone, who works under the name ConcernedApe and solo-developed the game over four years — teaching himself its art, music, programming and design.1 It was first released for Windows on 26 February 201621 and has since become one of the defining cozy games: by its ten-year anniversary in February 2026, Barone reported it had sold 50 million copies.3

Gameplay

The player inherits their grandfather's old farm plot in Stardew Valley and starts a new life with a few hand-me-down tools and coins.2 From there the game is deliberately open-ended: growing crops, raising animals, fishing, mining, crafting, and building relationships with the residents of the nearby town. It can be played solo or cooperatively, with online, LAN and split-screen co-op supported on PC.2

Development and release

Barone remains the game's sole developer and self-publishes it.21 Technically, Stardew Valley began life on Microsoft's XNA framework; with update 1.5.5 in November 2021 it migrated to MonoGame, which Barone described as futureproofing the game and expanding what mods can do.4

After the Windows launch, the game reached macOS and Linux within months, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in December 2016, Nintendo Switch in late 2017, iOS in October 2018, and Android in March 2019.1 Barone has kept updating the game for free: the major 1.6 update arrived on PC on 19 March 2024 and reached consoles and mobile on 4 November 2024.3

Reception

As of December 2024 the game had sold more than 41 million copies across all platforms — over 26 million on PC and 7.9 million on Nintendo Switch — making it one of the most successful games ever built by a single person.1 In a February 2026 anniversary post, Barone put the total at 50 million, "with no sign of slowing down."3 Its influence is visible across the farming-sim wave that followed, from Fields of Mistria to Dinkum.

References

  1. ConcernedApe. "Press" — stardewvalley.net. Retrieved 9 July 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  2. Valve. "Stardew Valley" — Steam store data. Retrieved 9 July 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. ConcernedApe. "Blog (1.6 release and 10-year anniversary posts)" — stardewvalley.net. Retrieved 9 July 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. ConcernedApe. "Stardew Valley 1.5.5 released on PC" — stardewvalley.net, 30 November 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2026. ↩