Stardew Valley was this year’s surprise indie gaming hit, a simultaneously modern and retro take on the old Harvest Moon series that took Steam by storm. Virtual farming on PC has never been so popular. To many people’s chagrin, though, the game was indeed PC only. However, at E3 2016, developer Concerned Ape announced that the game was coming to Xbox One, PS4 and Wii U before the end of the year. No word yet on the Mac and Linux versions, so get excited for console Stardew Valley. It’ll come just in time for those long winter months.
Stardew Valley Console Release Date: Before The Winter Holidays
The current target for the console Stardew Valley release date is firmly in Q4 2016, according to the developer . As long as we get the game before the winter holidays, we’ll be happy. The farming and dating sim is the perfect game to while away the cold hours playing… perfecting your farm, exploring and befriending the community, romancing the villagers. It’s truly Harvest Moon come again—but it has the magic back, somehow.
ConcernedApe hasn’t yet announced any exclusive console features or any differences between the versions, although it has alluded to the possibility of using console-specific features like the Wii U’s second screen. The console ports are being made in conjunction with Chucklefish and Sickhead Games, so Concerned Ape can keep working on new features and updates for the PC version.
Stardew Valley seems likely to end up in a Minecraft-esque situation, where the PC and console versions are slightly different, with the PC version a little bit ahead. It’s the downside of using secondary developers to make the ports. The upside is that the console version happens at all, and the PC version can keep trucking ahead. And that’s a big upside: Without even Mac availability, Stardew Valley is one of the more platform-exclusive indie games in a while. The console version will be most welcome. Especially for those of who want to farm rhubarb. But then, who doesn’t?