Stardew Valley celebrates its 10th anniversary later this month. Yes, really. On 26th February 2026, ConcernedApe's monumental farming sim will turn a decade old. It came to Switch in 2017 and, in the time since it's release, has sold millions of copies and has consistently received a number of big free updates, with the next one — update 1.7 — on the horizons.
And, speaking to IGN ahead of the game's big birthday, Eric 'ConcernedApe' Barone gave us a little tease of what to expect from the upcoming update, and they're related to children and marriage.
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Barone admitted he's "trying to not reveal too much because I like for it to be a surprise", but allowed himself to slip in a few little details into the chat: "Well, there is a popular fan request, which has to do with the children, trying to make the children a little more interesting."
Right now, children don't really have a function in the game — they're key to getting the Full House achievement, and you get some extra dialogue with your spouse, but that's about it. Perhaps we'll be able to talk to them more or maybe they can help on the farm when they're old enough. Who knows!
But long-time fans will also be excited to know that Barone is going to be "adding two more marriage candidates, but I'll reveal who it is on the anniversary day." There are currently 12 marriage candidates in-game, so this will bring up the list of eligible bachelors to 14. And of course, there are no gender restrictions here, either.
Of course, those aren't the only two things coming with update 1.7, which Barone also teases: "...there's a lot of other things in the update as well that no one's really asked for, but I think people will appreciate it."
Sounds like we'll find out a little bit more — at least on the marriage candidates — on 26th February, then! Perhaps we'll get an update on the Switch 2 Edition patch and European release, too.
Make sure you give the full interview a read for some lovely little tidbits about Barone's time developing the game, including how he comes up with ideas, his love of David Lynch, and the fact there's still a secret no one has discovered in-game.
Barone also mentions his next game, Haunted Chocolatier, which last week he had to calm fears about 'abandoning" due to the long development time.
Are you excited for Stardew Valley's 1.7 update? Let us know in the comments.