Stardew Valley Free New-Gen Update Set to Land Soon

Stardew Valley has been one of the most remarkably consistent performers when it comes to game updates over the years, going from strength to strength without ever really showing signs of slowing down.

That has changed somewhat over the last year, as the creator of the game, ConcernedApe, (almost) completely switched focus to his highly anticipated new release Haunted Chocolatier.

Even with that new port of call, the small development team still working on Stardew Valley managed to roll out the 1.6 update, which many thought would be the game's last. Not so, though, with a planned 1.7 update scheduled to arrive at some point, even if we don't know exactly when that is.

That wasn't the only piece of good news, with a further update for the Switch 2 promised in "fall 2025," which leads us to a very exciting conclusion.

Stardew Valley Switch 2 Update Should Be Here in Weeks

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As first reported by Screen Rant, the official date for the start of winter is 21 December, which gives the development team working on the update less than a month to get it out if they want to meet the deadline they set.

Now, obviously the lack of news has led many to get nervous, particularly with many fairly assuming that the start of winter comes at the start of December, but we have to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Very rarely, if ever, have the Stardew Valley team let the community down in a major way, and I don't think they'd want to start just as the game is taking its final victory lap.

Let's not forget either that the scope of the Switch 2 update is actually quite impressive, and amounts to a lot more than simply making the game look a little prettier or more defined.

The headline feature is probably the local four-player split screen co-op, which really does feel like a great use of the Switch 2's premise and capabilities.

It also introduces mouse controls using the joy-con for the first time, as well as Game Share, which allows friends to play the game with you, even if they don't own a copy.

In even better news, the update is totally free, aside from in Japan where apparently that's illegal, so they are charging a nominal fee instead.

Fingers crossed our collective Christmas celebrations start early and everyone gets to spend a little more time in the valley.