Stardew Valley 1.6 Update: Release Date & All New Content

The latest update for the role-playing game Stardew Valley is called 1.6, and comes seven years after its initial release. Developer Concerned Ape built the update while taking a break from their second game, Haunted Chocolatier. While they wanted to give modders more tools to work with, they couldn’t help but add some new game content for players simultaneously.

This guide explains when the release date for Stardew Valley 1.6 is and what it adds to the game, as well as all the teases and information its developer has shared along the way.

Related: How many Purple Starfish are there on Ginger Island in Stardew Valley?

All New Content in Stardew Valley 1.6 update

Image via Chucklefish

Concerned Ape has confirmed the two main elements players should be concerned about with Stardew Valley 1.6. The first is new gameplay content, but not as much as Stardew Valley 1.5 introduced. While the previous update added an entirely new region, update 1.6 will likely simply add more to what’s already in the game.

This brings us to the second new element Stardew Valley 1.6 adds, which is new dialogue. We don’t know how comprehensive this will be, but a few characters will have new things to say to you. We suspect this will be linked to the new game content, potentially a new activity or set of quests you’ll need to complete.

We also know that Stardew Valley 1.6 will bring changes that modders will appreciate. These changes will make it easier to mod Stardew Valley and provide powerful modding tools for those that want to create custom content for the game. While the official new content Stardew Valley 1.6 adds might be lighter than fans want, the new modding tools will undoubtedly lead to hundreds of hours of unofficial content being added to the game.

When is the Release Date for Stardew Valley 1.6?

Screenshot by Gamepur

At the time of writing, the release date for Stardew Vally 1.6 isn’t known. On January 26, 2024, Concerned Ape explained in a Twitter post that the update is in the “polishing phase until it’s ready for release,” which indicates to us that the full release shouldn’t be too far away.

Concerned Ape had previously shared that they were working on the update and that it will be out when it’s ready. Stardew Valley players on mobile received the 1.5 update earlier this year, so Stardew Valley 1.6 should be out at some point soon. Fans were pleasantly surprised to hear that the game would get new content despite the developer’s focus being on Haunted Chocolatier. This update, in particular, seems to have been a bit of a palette cleanser from the current project.

The latest news from ConcernedApe is that Update 1.6 is still in the works. They’ve also mentioned a potential Update 1.7 for Stardew Valley, but it’s a very vague comment. However, it does show that the developer isn’t discounting the idea of a much larger update for the game immediately, so a big chunk of content could be on the cards once Haunted Chocolatier has been released.

We’ll update this section of our guide once a release date and more content are revealed.