Following a plethora of posts teasing just a few lines from the patch notes, Stardew Valley creator Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone finally deployed the long-awaited 1.6 update for PC players today.
Like update 1.5 and update 1.4 before it, the Stardew Valley 1.6 update is a massive one, featuring a ton of new content additions plus visual improvements, multiplayer changes, balance changes, quality-of-life improvements, and a wave of bug fixes. It’s currently live for Steam and GOG players and is “coming” for Game Pass players soon.
The new content will certainly be the biggest draw for both returning and active players. Four new festivals/events have been added: a three-day spring-time Desert Festival, two mini fishing festivals in the Trout Derby and Squidfest, and an unnamed environmental “event” in the summer. A new farm type that’s drawn a ton of interest, the Meadowlands Farm with chewy blue grass and a coop with two chickens on day one, has also been added. Players start with Hay rather than seeds when choosing the Meadowlands Farm.
A new mastery system, “accessed via a new area,” will grant powerful perks and items. Literally hundreds of new items have been added in the latest update: new crops, home furnishings, crafting stations, books, clothing items, fish, dialogue, resources, achievements, and more have been added.
For multiplayer enthusiasts, the maximum number of players has been increased to eight on PC. Players should see improvements in multiplayer performance and stability thanks to the use of Steam multiplayer authentication and other optimizations, and players should experience fewer disconnects. But sadly for some, there’s no bigger farm for a party of eight to spread out on, for now.
A time has not yet been determined for when the update will apply to console and mobile platforms. ConcernedApe has now released several major content-rich updates to Stardew Valley since the game’s release, while also working on a new yet-to-be-released project, Haunted Chocolatier.
