As reported by ConcernedApe himself the indie developer will be self-publishing his farming sim hit Stardew Valley on all platforms except for Switch and mobile devices. The shift in management will take effect December 14. This is a huge move for one of the most successful indie devs of the last few years, and an exciting change for those who are fans of indie games as a whole, as it promotes autonomy for small studios.
Eric Barone, better known by his development alias ConcernedApe, announced the self-directed change on Twitter this morning. In the extended blog post, he states “I think self-publishing is the end-goal of most indie developers, and I’m happy to be in a place where that’s possible!” Barone is clearly elated by and ready for the change, and fans of his work should be too.
Just a heads up, everyone. Starting December 14th, I'll begin self-publishing Stardew Valley on all platforms except Switch & Mobile. Full blog post here: https://t.co/TySAJZYXix
— ConcernedApe (@ConcernedApe) November 30, 2018
As he stated, this is where many indie developers wish they could be, and where most aspire to be when they begin developing games. He goes on to thank publisher Chucklefish for their support in assisting the former greenhorn by doing things like handling distribution and establishing the official Wiki and website. He even goes on to thank the developer who coded Stardew Valley’s multiplayer component, Tom Coxon. It’s clear the one-man band that is ConcernedApe has had plenty of assistance from an excellent ensemble along the way, giving us the ever addicting game we cherish today.
Chucklefish had this to say about Barone’s partial departure:
We are proud to be part of the Stardew Valley story and wish ConcernedApe every success with his new self-publishing venture. We will carry on working closely together and are particularly excited to be continuing to publish the versions of Stardew Valley for Nintendo Switch and Mobile, including the upcoming Switch Multiplayer update (in submission now) and new Android version which we know many of you are looking forward to!”
So with a mutually warm relationship between Barone and Chucklefish, and the next steps of the indie developer’s journey looking bright, it seems as though everybody won out in this decision. Fans get to see yet another indie star break out on their own while the game they created under their publisher still has strong support from both camps. Barone’s final words on the blog post leave plenty to the imagination though, as he concludes by telling us to, “Expect some more announcements concerning the future of Stardew Valley soon… stay tuned!”
For now, we can only look forward to what ConcernedApe has in store for us in the coming years regarding his current success as well as the upcoming wizardly adventure Spellbound. If Stardew Valley is any indicator though, there is a very promising future ahead for Barone and his endeavors.
