During an appearance at the Symphony of Seasons concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater on October 25, ConcernedApe reportedly revealed that Stardew Valley 1.7 would be the game’s biggest update yet, with a tentative release window of 2027. According to attendees, he also described Clint and Sandy as merely the “tip of the iceberg.” That comment is particularly exciting in light of a mysterious message he shared in September, which has yet to receive any explanation. If the new marriage candidates represent such a small part of the update, the message’s more ambitious interpretations suddenly seem worth another look.
In September 2026, ConcernedApe shared a cryptic message on the official Stardew Valley Discord server containing three clues about Update 1.7. The first stated that “two paths will be extended,” which immediately prompted speculation about the game’s existing progression systems. One straightforward interpretation involves Clint and Sandy, whose previously limited relationship paths will be expanded to accommodate romance and marriage. Considering both characters have been part of the game for years, this seems like a reasonable explanation. However, the developer’s latest comments make me wonder whether the clue could be pointing toward something considerably more substantial.
Another interpretation involves the Community Center and JojaMart routes, which determine how players approach one of Stardew Valley’s central storylines. Although both paths eventually allow players to develop Pelican Town, their long-term consequences are relatively limited once the major objectives are completed. Extending these routes could introduce additional objectives or more meaningful differences between their outcomes. Personally, I find this possibility more exciting than the romance explanation, particularly because it would give experienced players another reason to revisit one of the game’s earliest decisions. Nothing confirms that the clue refers to these routes, but the reported scale of Update 1.7 makes the idea easier to imagine.
I’m just happy Clint will stop being such a creep
Ahh me, too! I think he would make such a sweet husband.
I hope it finally unlocks the path further up the mountain.
I still haven’t seen most of Ginger Island yet I’m so excited
Stardew Valley is one of those games that I wish I enjoyed. I think I have tried it at least a dozen times by now and always lose interest.
Oh, another content update? How exciting! Thank you for sharing, I had not heard about this.
I’m liking the idea of expanding the routes of what you do once you complete the community center and route out Jojamart. I just hope it doesn’t turn into some 40-hour expanded route though. All I could think of is that, you could become your own farmer’s market. Hey wait, yeah! Let us compete with Pierre and run HIM out of business!
Yall got anymore of that Stardew Valley?
I’m enjoying the pace of his continued updates because I get to forget SDV for long enough that playing it again with new contents feels just new enough to be both familiar and interesting at the same time. CA is such a treasure!
Any idea when this game will be out of early access?
About a decade ago
It started about then, and hasn’t stopped. Years later, they continually release major updates like this that keep making big changes to a lot of aspects of the game and fixing issues, working toward the eventual full release. I’d rather just wait and play the full game.
It’s not in early access. Concerned Ape rolls out updates just because he loves the game and wants to give back to the fanbase. The full game is out and available.
You should view these updates like expansion packs.
The full game is out and available.
It’s literally not. This very post shows how. The full game is slowly being released to you over the years. These are big updates that fundamentally change how some things work in the game. The updates aren’t just adding extra post-game content or something. Someone playing the game today is going to have a different experience than someone playing a year from now, even in the early-game.
If you like this kind of constantly-evolving game, then good for you. You are free to enjoy it. I miss when games were released as a completed product.
That’s fair, it’ll probably be done when he’s dead, given that his continued additions are because he feels like adding more. This and terraria, and other games of the sort should be seen as something fundamentally different from early access though.
Ultimately if you don’t like games that have free expansions added every once in a while in perpetuity, this isn’t the game for you and famously so
You have clearly never played Stardew Valley and are fundamentally misunderstanding what the game is and what these updates add.
I had played many hours and experienced a few major updates that frustrated me. These updates added/changed things that altered the outcome of choices that I had made with the previous version of the game in mind.
It’s been years since I have played the game at all, so I can’t remember specifics about my farm. But I remember creating a building and dedicating it to wine aging or something, then there was some update that affected something like how wine works that made me regret even filling that building with casks to begin with. If that had always been how wine had worked, I would have taken a very different path with my farm. I can’t remember if it was specifically aging/casks that had changed, but that’s just a hypothetical example of the sort of things that change and cause frustration. Or how that second town bulletin board thing was added with new side quests. If those quests had always been in the game, I may have focused on completing those tasks instead of making another cave run or something.
It’s just frustrating to follow updates that change the rules of the game. I would rather be able to create a farm and make choices to optimize it knowing that this is the one set of rules that my farm will ever be beholden to. If I have to wait a while until the game is finished, that is fine.
I’ve also been frustrated by the experience of games I’ve paid for changing into something else with no possibility of getting my money back. I wish developers would release games as early access if they’re not finished working on them, so people who don’t want this could avoid it.
AAA games get updates that change gameplay slightly all the time. Why is Stardew Valley unique in this to you?
Guess I’ll be playing sv in 2027 again.
Bigger than Ginger Island is a crazy high bar. He’s such an incredible dev, we are so lucky to have this!
Haunted Chocolatier is just gonna end up being a free update to Stardew Valley at this point.
I had the thought that “1.7 is biggest update” means that you can unlock the “chocolatier mansion” pylon
I can’t really tell who I’m a bigger fan of, ConcernedApe or CDPR for providing new content and gameplay for their games that have been out for years at this point. Probably ConcernedApe because he is just one dude living his best life, but CDPR still get some of my love and admiration too.
We’ve also got Re-Logic adding so much new stuff to Terraria it could have been multiple full dlcs, but they’re doing it for the love of the game
Hello Games and No Man’s Sky!
I was at the concert at Red Rocks for this. The atmosphere was electric! He even played steel drums during one of the songs lmao
My girlfriend and I have been waiting for 1.7 for a year and a half to do our third co-op play through. Gotta let the man cook. Also… bigger than Ginger Island? That would be nuts.
Is this a good game for coop ? especially with a mostly non-gamer partner ? I’ve been easing my wife into games
It’s a great game for coop! Base game NPCs are well written (even though they are cliches by now, they were original at inception though!) so non-gamers have something to hook onto if they fail the mechanical demands (mostly the fishing minigame tbh, battle is knockback based = easy)
But, if you are going to play with a non-gamer you have to download some mods (time stops if both players are in a state which would stop time in singleplayer, and time stops in the house) because without the mods, it was one of the most stressful games we played together.
Days are short if time is passing when you are in a fishing minigame who knew?
Big agree on time stop mods for coop. It is highly stressful without it, especially getting a cut scene late in the day.
Thanks ! I’ll be sure to bring some mods then
I would say ye
Also try Travellers Rest if stardew is not to your liking. It is a bit more laid back, since you dont fall asleep half the time when you stay up too late. Still early access but has tons of content already.
I play stardew with my wife all the time. Sometimes when she’s doing something else, I’ll tempt her by subtly increasing the volume on the title screen soundtrack…
heheh. Okay I might try it then. Cheers
I’ve been playing this game exclusively in co-op with the partner for a few 100 hours. Got all the acievements together as wel. So I would say yes
Cool thanks for the feedback
Actually yes, did that with my spouse. We play together and they have their own farm going now in year 3
Nice thanks
