Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone, the designer and the developer of "Stardew Valley," announced that he is hoping to release a multiplayer beta in spring.
In a post in the farming simulation role-playing game's official website on Feb. 15, Barone confirmed the news fans of "Stardew Valley" have been waiting for — a multiplayer update (1.3). He said that the upcoming update will be a "game changer" for the game. He started his post by thanking Tom Coxton of Chucklefish, the developer of the farming sim, for helping him turn "Stardew Valley" into a multiplayer game. He stressed that while he had always worked solo for the game, the upcoming multiplayer beta will not be possible without Coxton.
He then gave an update as to the status of the upcoming beta. He said that the new features were done and that they have sent all the new texts to be translated into different languages. They are also currently working on fixing bugs. Once they have received the translated texts and integrated it to the game, they will begin with Quality Assurance (QA) testing all the new features of both multiplayer and single-player modes to ensure the quality of the beta.
After the QA phase, he said that the multiplayer update will be ready for a public beta. He then said that he will be updating fans with the specifics on how the multiplayer will work and the complete list of the new features in the upcoming 1.3. To excite fans further, he shared a screenshot (see the photo above) of another feature of the upcoming update — a sign feature. The upcoming update will include the said feature in which players can click items onto signs to label their farms.
