Although Stardew Valley was inspired by the Harvest Moon series, it's now considered to be the definitive farming simulation. Since its initial release on PC in 2016, the game's creator Eric 'ConcernedApe' Barone has continually improved the game while at the same time porting it across to every platform possible, including the Nintendo Switch.
The hard work appears to have paid off, with the official game site and Barone (via Twitter) revealing the game has now sold over 10 million copies worldwide. It's an outstanding effort for an indie game that only started out four years ago.
No further details were provided, so we can't go into any detail about the Switch sales. In saying this, the game is frequently at the top of the eShop download charts. If you haven't already played Stardew Valley, you really should try it out, or at least read our review.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 25
I've poured in over 720 hours on this game for my Switch version alone. Congrats, ConcernedApe, on your epic accomplishment!
I'm on my 3rd farm. Though I can't claim the mind blowing 720 hours that @MasterGraveheart has dropped into it, I have about 270 I believe and 3 farms. It's a lovely game in every respect.
Though I still with there were more late game things to do in it, the recent updates have helped a lot with that.
I bought it yesterday. After reading Blood Sweat and Pixels. Great book, cant recommend it enough
Well good for them. Ill be interested in buying if a physical release existed.
I wish I would’ve gotten this when it was on sale!
For you readers and aspiring game makers; read the book 'Blood Sweat and Pixels', if only for the chapter about Eric Barone making Stardew Valley. Inspiring story!
@mother_brain_85 I did it like with Golf Story: first get the digital version and enjoy the game and if a physical veraion is released, just buy it again to support a great Indie Dev!
A physical version might be released eventually, as it is available on other platforms physically.
And every penny Concerned Ape earns is well-deserved.
I'll stick with actual Harvest Moon thanks.
@mother_brain_85 it did release in the east in some sort of collectors edition.
https://www.play-asia.com/stardew-valley-collectors-edition/13/70cdij
They show up some times on eBay but the prices have sky rocketed,
Deservedly so, fantastic game at a very reasonable price.
Bit of a crass question, but would we say the creator of this game is making £1 clear profit per game sold? Just trying to work out if it's worth quitting my job and making the MMORPG Brexit game I've been planning.
@frabbit I'd say it's a lot more than that. He recovered his costs a long time ago (does he even have anyone help with the game he needs to pay?) and he could be living off the interest if he hasn't squandered it all so new development costs won't be eating in to it that much. Even if it were a £1.99 mobile game, with the typical 70:30 split with the platform provider he'd be making more than £1. It's selling for £8 or more, depending on platform, and he's now self publishing so he's raking it in.
Fantastic game, never really got into harvest moon and the like, but there is something irresistible about this game that keeps drawing me back to it. I have started playing again recently due to 1.4. Currently planning on 100% completing my current farm, currently sitting around 260-270 hours in the game (will have to double check later). I know that it is currently my most played Switch game, although I have a couple of games that are pretty close (BOTW, FE:TH, Splatoon 2, Hyrule Warriors). I am really looking forward to whatever ConcernedApe makes next!
Still not interested. I’ve got a real farm to run.
@frabbit He made most of the game by himself over a 4 year period. In the book Blood Sweat and Pixels it says the publisher got 10%. With that calculation of 70/30 split minus 10% he's made over £60 million. That's not accounting for sales etc.
Well deserved.
@KitsuneNight You are missing an awesome game, trust me!
It's amazing that such games can easily compete and sometimes even win (*gameplay) with a such big titles like Zelda BOTW.
The beauty of games/
gameplay > rest/
Unless you are a graphics hog
@Gravitron brilliant book! I read it last year.
It has been bundled. Does that count as a sale?
I'm interested in this one, but haven't bit the bullet yet because I fear what it would do to me and my backlog, based on what I've heard...
I really enjoyed this game. It was familiar, yet different enough from the Harvest Moon games that they stand apart and each are enjoyable in their own way. I'm always up for new, good games in the genre.
It’s included in my Tesla Model 3 but I haven’t tried it yet. Maybe during the next time I’m charging I might give it a try.
Good, this game is fantastic and it makes me so happy knowing Indie games are getting the attention they deserve.
Back when indies were starting to find their feet, I was worried they'd only be a short-term outburst due to people comparing them to main stream games and deeming them inferior.
So glad to see that isn't the case.
Congratulations!
I guess all Harvest Moon needed to really take off in the west was some of dat indie spirit, and being available across all platforms!
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