ConcernedApe Hasn’t Worked on Haunted Chocolatier ‘In a Long Time’ Because of Troublesome Console and Mobile Ports of Stardew Valley 1.6

It sounds like the console and mobile ports of Stardew Valley’s game-changing 1.6 update are proving troublesome — so much so that developer Eric Barone, aka ConcernedApe, hasn’t worked on his follow-up game “in a long time.”

The free 1.6 update, which sparked a fresh 10/10 Stardew Valley review from IGN, launched on PC in March, which means console and mobile players of the phenomenally successful farming and life sim have waited nearly half a year so far. ConcernedApe initially expected the ports would be released a month later.

In a tweet, a clearly frustrated ConcernedApe apologized to disgruntled fans, and promised not to return to work on his next game, Haunted Chocolatier, until Stardew 1.6 is finalized.

“Console and mobile ports are still in progress,” ConcernedApe said. “I acknowledge that they are taking a long time. There are reasons for this, but the bottom line is that they are not out yet, we are still working on them, and they have been our primary focus since 1.6 came out for PC.

“It would be a huge relief to me if they were ready today, but they aren’t, so all we can do is continue working on them until they are ready. I have not touched Haunted Chocolatier in a long time because I am committed to finalizing Stardew 1.6 first.

“To those who are frustrated or even angry about the timeline, I understand and accept full responsibility. To those who are patient and understanding, thank you, you make life better and reduce stress, and I appreciate it. Back to work.”

In a follow-up tweet, ConcernedApe responded to one fan who asked why 1.6 launched on PC first, rather than alongside console and mobile later, to say PC enables quick fixes and patches for bugs, whereas it takes much longer on console.

“So it’s ideal to have all major issues resolved before submitting to consoles,” ConcernedApe continued. “Otherwise players might have game-breaking, or even save-corrupting bugs in the game for a week.

“The truth is, I didn’t expect console to take this long, but there have been technical issues with the porting process. I was originally hoping it would be maybe, one month apart max. At any rate, I feel bad about it.”

There is no updated release window for Stardew Valley 1.6 on consoles and mobile, but hopefully it won’t be too much longer. Haunted Chocolatier, revealed in 2021, doesn’t have a release window either.

This week, ConcernedApe explained why he really wants Pam in a potential Stardew Valley crossover with Fortnite.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.