Hello everyone,
Today is the 10-year Anniversary of Stardew Valley’s launch.
While the game has been publicly available for 10 years, I’ve been working on it for almost 15 years.
That’s a long time. Though, it’s also felt like the blink of an eye.
Stardew has grown a lot over the last 15 years.
To highlight some of that growth, I put together a little video that shows off some very early versions of the game, with my commentary. You can watch that below. It will be available on Feb 26th, 2026 at 11am PST.
Of course, there is a lot more that I could show off beyond this footage. But I didn’t want to take up too much of everyone’s time.
I have a lot of old Stardew Valley files on my computer. And somewhere, I have an external hard drive with back ups of the game that I took periodically during the entire course of development.
(To the programmers out there, no I didn’t use any version control software during development. I just backed up the entire project every now and then.)
Maybe I will show off more things, someday, if there’s interest.
But to be honest, I prefer focusing on the now and future of Stardew Valley, than thinking about the past too much.
Right now, the game is a very feature-rich and content-full experience, with many new and returning players every single day. It’s sold 50 million copies with no sign of slowing down.
And there’s a new update in the works which I think will make the game even better, and give everyone who hasn’t played in a while a reason to come back again.
I’m very happy with the success of Stardew Valley. It’s given my life a lot of meaning and purpose, beyond anything I would’ve ever thought possible as a starry-eyed teenager.
It seems that Stardew Valley has been a positive force for a lot of people. Not just as a fun game, but as an experience that brought them comfort, hope, joy, and even taught valuable life lessons. And with multiplayer, an experience that brought them closer to friends and family, or even to their future spouses.
It’s special to me, that there are people who will play Stardew Valley during their formative years, and remember that experience fondly for the rest of their lives.
To them, my funny ideas like “green rain”, “Krobus”, “trash bear”, “Mr. Qi”, “junimos” or the “raccoon family that lives in a stump” may become cherished memories.
The games that I played as a kid inspired me with feelings of boundless creativity and possibility. To be able to pass that special type of feeling on to others, is to me a noble pursuit. So I’m really grateful that I’ve been given the opportunity to do something like that. And I hope to continue it with Haunted Chocolatier and beyond.
The community surrounding Stardew Valley has grown so large, and with so many people producing fan art, memes, videos, mods, theories, guides, and more… that it’s sometimes hard to remember that this all started in my own head. As an idea, a vision. A vision that I grinded away at to materialize into the physical world. And now it’s expanded into this massive thing that is largely external to me. I sincerely hope that Stardew Valley, and all my future work, will be a force of good in the world.
We’re all on a journey to become the best versions of ourselves. I know I haven’t even come close. Maybe it’s an impossible goal. But yet, I hope that my work, and even my own life, will inspire people to try their best. Whether we succeed or fail, it’s noble to try one’s best.
I’m thankful for everyone who has played Stardew Valley. I’m thankful to everyone who has helped me over the years, too. At the end of the day, it’s not so much about me, anyway. I will be gone some day, but this world I’ve dreamed up may live on forever. That idea is humbling and gives me a solemn sense of purpose.
But hey, at the end of the day, games are supposed to be FUN. That will always by the priority in my work. And not everything has to be heavy. Life is both heavy and light-hearted, but my games are mostly light-hearted.
So, sorry to get emo on you guys. It’s just, that when I’m thinking… 1 0 y e a r s… it makes me consider the big picture.
well, back to the old grind… my joy.
Thanks for 10 great years of Stardew Valley, everyone.
And here’s to a bright future in the valley, and beyond!
-Ape