Haunted Chocolatier: Release date rumours for Stardew Valley creator’s new game

by

Stardew Valley, the incredibly popular indie game, celebrated its 10-year anniversary recently. Its creator, Eric Barone—known as ConcernedApe—is now developing a brand new game called Haunted Chocolatier.

First revealed in 2021, updates on the game’s development have been scarce, as the creator has been busy with both Stardew Valley and striving to make Haunted Chocolatier as polished as possible.

The game, first called ‘Sprout Valley’, started as a project for Barone to address problems he saw in the popular farming simulation series, Harvest Moon.

Want to know when Haunted Chocolatier will be released? Here’s the latest information about Eric Barone’s upcoming game.

What is Haunted Chocolatier?

Haunted Chocolatier is a game where you play as a chocolate maker living in a haunted castle. You’ll collect ingredients to create chocolates and sell them to the people in town. It’s a mix of role-playing and simulation gameplay.

I’m planning on sharing more details about the game as we get closer to launch. I’ve got tons of ideas, but I don’t want to reveal everything just yet. I want to keep things flexible and avoid locking myself into any specific design early on, you know? I want to be able to evolve the game based on feedback and what feels right.

I haven’t developed the finer details yet, but they’re on the way,” Barone explained. He was talking about how he’ll add extra polish to the core chocolate-themed gameplay that he’s already described.

I’ve always thought what makes Barone so good is how he just goes with things – he’s not afraid to be spontaneous, and that really shows in his music. Plus, he’s his own boss, which I think is amazing! He motivates himself, and you can tell it lets him create exactly what he wants.

While Stardew Valley feels bright and sunny, Haunted Chocolatier has a more mysterious, moonlit atmosphere. The developer noted that both feelings are important.

Haunted Chocolatier release date speculation

We originally aimed to release the game in 2022, shortly after its announcement in 2021, but that hasn’t happened.

Since the game’s release, Barone has consistently revisited Stardew Valley to complete significant content updates, including the 1.6 to 1.6.15 updates that came out in 2024.

Barone prioritizes quality over speed, preferring to release a polished game even if it means delaying the launch. He explained that it’s better to have a great game arrive late than a flawed one on schedule, and he’ll release it when he feels it’s truly ready.

I was so excited to see a blog post from Barone in January 2026! He said he’s been making really good progress on Haunted Chocolatier, which is awesome to hear. It’s great knowing he’s been so productive!

He reiterated his previous statement from 2025, expressing hope that Haunted Chocolatier will be released within the next five years, and confirmed he’s still working on updates for Stardew Valley at the same time.

The developers are aiming to release Haunted Chocolatier sometime between 2026 and 2030, but they’re hoping it will be much sooner than that.

No matter when it’s released, the final product will definitely meet Barone’s high standards, which is great news. Hopefully, Silksong will be worth the long wait!

Want to see this content?

We can’t display this content because of a security measure from Google called reCAPTCHA. To see it, please sign out of your Contentpass account.

Which consoles and platforms can play Haunted Chocolatier?

Haunted Chocolatier is definitely coming to PC. While there’s no confirmation yet, it’s likely we’ll see it on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch eventually. For now, only the PC version is officially confirmed.

Barone’s past success with Stardew Valley offers a clue about the potential reach of this new project. Stardew Valley is playable on a wide variety of platforms, including Steam, computers (Mac and Linux), iPhones and Android devices, Xbox One, PlayStation consoles (PS4 and PS Vita), and even Tesla car screens.

Can I pre-order Haunted Chocolatier?

Haunted Chocolatier music

Want to see this content?

This YouTube video isn’t available while you’re signed in to Contentpass. Please sign out of Contentpass to watch it.

Barone is famous for creating stunning music that really enhances his games. The soundtrack for Stardew Valley was consistently excellent, and fans are hoping his new game, Haunted Chocolatier, will feature equally captivating music.

The first trailer for Haunted Chocolatier included two short songs, each a little over a minute long, and they’ve already been shared by the composer, Barone, on their YouTube channel, suggesting a strong focus on music in the game.

I’m so excited to share these new tracks with you! They don’t have official titles yet, but you can listen to both of them right here – one’s at the top and one’s at the bottom. Pick whichever one you want and get ready for something really sweet to your ears!

Want to see this content?

This YouTube video isn’t available while you’re signed in to Contentpass. Please sign out of Contentpass to watch it.

Haunted Chocolatier gameplay

Barone shared on the game’s website that he simply wants to create an enjoyable game, but he hasn’t revealed many specifics about how Haunted Chocolatier will actually play.

He admitted he wasn’t quite sure how to explain the game he was making. He said it was changing and developing as he worked on it, and he didn’t know exactly what it would become.

Essentially, the game revolves around collecting ingredients, crafting chocolate, and managing your own chocolate shop. There’s definitely more to it than that, but I’m holding back on details right now – I want to keep the possibilities open and not commit to one specific idea for the game just yet.

The game was built using the C# programming language and the Monogame framework. You can see gameplay footage and listen to some original music in the video at the bottom of this page.

Does Haunted Chocolatier have multiplayer?

Barone has said he’s currently focused on a single-player experience and doesn’t have any plans for multiplayer right now, suggesting Haunted Chocolatier likely won’t include multiplayer when it’s first released.

If Haunted Chocolatier does as well as ConcernedApe’s first game, Stardew Valley, then adding a cooperative mode where players work together to manage the chocolate shop could be a great next step.

Haunted Chocolatier trailer

The first trailer for Haunted Chocolatier is out now, offering a glimpse at early gameplay. If you love the pixel art style of classic 90s and early 2000s Game Boy games, you’ll probably enjoy this. The trailer features a dreamy soundtrack and should help keep fans excited while they wait for the game’s release date.

Want to see this content?

This YouTube video isn’t available while you’re signed in to Contentpass. Please sign out of Contentpass to watch it.

Authors

John Calday

Read More

2026-01-30 15:06