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Stardew Valley

Game22 documents

22 documents in the library are about Stardew Valley, from writers such as Udonis, Alinea Analytics and Extra Credits, the newest from 2026. Each has a summary and key insights with the page they come from.

Stardew Valley cover

Stardew Valley is an open-ended country-life RPG! You’ve inherited your grandfather’s old farm plot in Stardew Valley. Armed with hand-me-down tools and a few coins, you set out to begin your new life. Can you learn to live off the land and turn these overgrown fields into a thriving home? It won’t be easy. Ever since Joja Corporation came to town, the old ways of life have all but disappeared. The community center, once the town’s most vibrant hub of activity, now lies in shambles. But the valley seems full of opportunity. With a little dedication, you might just be the one to restore Stardew Valley to greatness!

Released
Feb 26, 2016
Developer
ConcernedApe
Publishers
Chucklefish Games, 505 Games
Genres
Role-playing (RPG), Simulator, Strategy, Adventure, Indie
Platforms
PlayStation 4, Linux, Nintendo Switch 2, Android, PC (Microsoft Windows), iOS, Mac, Wii U

Game data from IGDB.com

Key figures

  • The cozy farming-sim genre, exemplified by Stardew Valley's 50 million copies sold and over half a billion dollars in revenue, continues to grow, indicating strong demand for games like Fields of Mistria.

    Alinea Analytics, 2026 · Two Summer Games Due to Make a Big Splash

  • Stardew Valley has achieved global sales of over 41 million copies as of late 2024, cementing its status as the primary evolution of the farming simulator genre.

    Push to Talk, 2025 · The Strange Descent of the Cozy Farming Sim

  • Farming, Life, and Business Management simulators dominate the cozy genre, with Farming and Life Sims seeing 96% and 89% of their respective viewership concentrated in just two titles per category, such as Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

    Stream Hatchet, 2025 · Cozy Games on Live Streaming with Lushfoil Photography Sim

  • Legacy titles remain highly profitable through aggressive discounting, evidenced by Star Wars Battlefront II selling 751,000 copies following a 90% price reduction and Stardew Valley selling 583,000 copies after a 50% discount.

    Alinea Analytics, 2025 · PEAK Was June's Top Steam Game by Copies Sold

Documents about Stardew Valley

Cover of Two Summer Games Due to Make a Big Splash
Article

Two Summer Games Due to Make a Big Splash

The gaming industry is currently tracking two distinct titles, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced and Fields of Mistria, both of which are positioned for significant commercial success during the summer of 2026.

  • Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, a remake launching July 9, has already outsold Ubisoft Singapore’s Skull & Bones on Steam and sold 5.39x more Steam copies than AC Shadows did at an equivalent pre-release stage.
  • Ubisoft priced Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced at $59.99, a deliberate strategy to maximize audience reach for a nostalgia-driven, lower-risk title.
  • Fields of Mistria, a farming sim, will release its 1.0 version on August 5 after two years in early access, having sold 1 million copies on Steam and generated approximately $11 million.
Alinea AnalyticsJul 2026
Cover of Making Indie Games Is Like Buying A Lottery Ticket
21 min
Jason Schreier21 min

Making Indie Games Is Like Buying A Lottery Ticket

The transition from corporate game development to independent game creation is frequently misunderstood as a viable alternative to industry layoffs.

  • The indie game market is hyper-saturated, with over 21,000 games released on Steam in 2025 alone, making commercial viability difficult even for critically acclaimed titles.
  • Transitioning to independent development is a high-risk financial endeavor rather than a stable career pivot, as it frequently requires personal savings, grants, or family support to cover years of development costs.
  • The 'starving artist' model of indie development is functionally inaccessible to mid-career professionals who have significant financial obligations like mortgages and dependents.
Jason SchreierJun 2026
Cover of Mobile Games Like Animal Crossing: Your Next Cozy Download
Article

Mobile Games Like Animal Crossing: Your Next Cozy Download

The article surveys mobile titles that emulate the relaxed, routine-driven experience of Animal Crossing, positioning them as alternatives for players seeking similar cozy gameplay on handheld devices.

  • The mobile market offers a diverse range of 'cozy' simulation alternatives to Animal Crossing, including titles like Hello Kitty Island Adventure, Disney Dreamlight Valley Arcade Edition, and Japanese Rural Life Adventure.
  • Core mechanics across these titles consistently feature low-stress activities such as decorating, fishing, bug catching, and friendship building to replicate the Animal Crossing daily loop.
  • Games are categorized by their gameplay depth, ranging from quick-session titles like Pocket Camp Complete and Castaway Paradise to progression-heavy experiences like Stardew Valley and My Time at Portia.
UdonisJun 2026
Cover of Best Mobile Games on iPhone: Big Hits and Hidden Gems
Article

Best Mobile Games on iPhone: Big Hits and Hidden Gems

The article presents a curated list of iPhone mobile games that balance short-session enjoyment with long-term depth, targeting a global audience of iOS users in 2026.

  • The 2026 iPhone gaming landscape is characterized by a high volume of low-quality filler titles, necessitating a curated approach to app selection.
  • Effective mobile device engagement is achieved by rotating between three distinct categories: large open-world adventures, quick competitive matches, and cozy simulation or puzzle games.
  • The recommended selection of ten titles for 2026 includes Genshin Impact, MARVEL SNAP, Call of Duty: Mobile, Stardew Valley, Balatro, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Minecraft, Bloons TD 6, Dead Cells, and Monument Valley 2.
UdonisMay 2026
Cover of 10 Best Paid Mobile Games with No Ads
Article

10 Best Paid Mobile Games with No Ads

The primary purpose of this analysis is to curate a selection of high-quality, premium mobile games that offer a complete user experience without the intrusion of advertisements, timers, or aggressive monetization tactics.

  • Premium mobile games prioritize gameplay quality by eliminating advertisements, timers, and aggressive monetization tactics common in free-to-play models.
  • The ten recommended titles—Dead Cells, Stardew Valley, Slay the Spire, Bloons TD 6, Pocket City 2, Monument Valley, The Room, Mini Metro, Terraria, and Minecraft—span action, strategy, simulation, and puzzle genres.
  • Upfront pricing for these high-quality titles typically ranges from $0.99 to $9.99, depending on regional availability and promotional pricing.
UdonisMar 2026
Cover of The Strange Descent of the Cozy Farming Sim
Article

The Strange Descent of the Cozy Farming Sim

The evolution of the cozy farming simulator genre is defined by a process of familial descent, where new titles emerge as iterative responses to established predecessors rather than entirely original concepts.

  • Stardew Valley has achieved global sales of over 41 million copies as of late 2024, cementing its status as the primary evolution of the farming simulator genre.
  • The cozy farming genre operates through a lineage-based development model where new titles iteratively refine the foundational mechanics established by the 1996 release of Harvest Moon.
  • Community-driven projects like Stardew Valley Expanded have reached over 20 million downloads, demonstrating a symbiotic relationship between core products and their derivative modifications.
Push to TalkSep 2025
Cover of Nintendo Piracy Site Takedown, Subnautica 2 Lawsuit & A New SAG Contract! | Gaming News
99 min
Extra Credits99 min

Nintendo Piracy Site Takedown, Subnautica 2 Lawsuit & A New SAG Contract! | Gaming News

The video game industry is currently navigating a period of intense legal and labor-related volatility, characterized by aggressive corporate enforcement and shifting power dynamics between publishers and developers.

  • SAG-AFTRA members ratified a new interactive media agreement with a 95.04% approval rating, securing essential protections against the unauthorized use of artificial intelligence.
  • Krafton is facing a lawsuit alleging it delayed the release of Subnautica 2 until 2026 to avoid paying a $250 million earn-out compensation package to former Unknown Worlds leadership.
  • Nintendo has escalated global anti-piracy efforts against Switch 2 leaks in collaboration with the FBI and Dutch authorities, though these actions have triggered consumer rights investigations in Brazil.
Extra CreditsJul 2025
Cover of June’s Steam Top 10: Seven 1M+ Sellers
Article

June’s Steam Top 10: Seven 1M+ Sellers

The June 2025 Steam market analysis highlights a robust period for the platform, characterized by seven titles achieving over one million copies sold.

  • The co-op climbing title PEAK reached 3.5 million copies sold on Steam in June, generating approximately $20 million in revenue.
  • Seven titles sold over 1 million copies on Steam in June, including Elden Ring Nightreign (1.1M), Stellar Blade (1.1M), and R.E.P.O (1.1M).
  • Steam wishlist conversion rates scale with volume: games with over 500,000 wishlists at launch convert 19% to buyers on day one, increasing to 32% after one month.
Alinea AnalyticsJul 2025
Cover of PEAK Was June's Top Steam Game by Copies Sold
Article

PEAK Was June's Top Steam Game by Copies Sold

The gaming landscape on Steam experienced significant activity in June 2025, characterized by a mix of high-performing new releases and the sustained commercial viability of legacy titles.

  • The co-op climbing game PEAK led Steam sales in June 2025 with 3.1 million copies sold, generating $17 million in revenue.
  • Seven titles surpassed one million copies sold on Steam in June, including PEAK, Revenge on Gold Diggers (1.3M), Rematch (1.1M), Elden Ring Nightreign (1.1M), Stellar Blade (1.1M), R.E.P.O (1.1M), and Dune Awakening (1.1M).
  • Rematch generated nearly $30 million in revenue on Steam, successfully positioning itself as a football-focused evolution of the fighting game genre.
Alinea AnalyticsJul 2025
Cover of Cozy Games on Live Streaming with Lushfoil Photography Sim
Article

Cozy Games on Live Streaming with Lushfoil Photography Sim

The cozy gaming genre has experienced significant growth on live-streaming platforms, driven by a post-pandemic audience seeking stress relief and decompression.

  • Quarterly hours watched for streams containing the word “cozy” on Twitch and YouTube Gaming nearly doubled from 3.6M to 7M over the past two years.
  • Farming, Life, and Business Management simulators dominate the cozy genre, with Farming and Life Sims seeing 96% and 89% of their respective viewership concentrated in just two titles per category, such as Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
  • The number of streamers using “cozy” in their stream titles grew from 7,000 in Q3 2024 to 9,100 in Q4 2024, reflecting a broader trend of creators capitalizing on the genre's pandemic-driven popularity.
Stream HatchetJun 2025
Cover of Stardew Valley Sales Numbers 2016 – 2025
Article

Stardew Valley Sales Numbers 2016 – 2025

Stardew Valley stands as a landmark achievement in the independent gaming sector, having secured its position as one of the most commercially successful titles in industry history.

  • Stardew Valley has sold 41 million copies as of December 2024, with more than half of those lifetime sales occurring between March 2022 and December 2024.
  • The game has generated an estimated $518 million in gross revenue, resulting in approximately $152.8 million in net revenue after platform cuts, taxes, refunds, and discounts.
  • Developed entirely by Eric Barone (ConcernedApe) over four years, the game was built using C# and Microsoft’s XNA framework.
UdonisMar 2025
Cover of The Art of the Follow-Up
Article

The Art of the Follow-Up

The independent game development sector faces a significant psychological and professional challenge when creators achieve a breakout, "canonical" hit.

  • Financial stability from a breakout hit often triggers creative paralysis or project cancellation rather than facilitating easier development cycles for subsequent titles.
  • Canonical indie titles like Celeste, Hollow Knight, and Stardew Valley maintain consistent, high-volume monthly revenue years after release, which paradoxically intensifies the pressure on developers to replicate that performance.
  • The expectation to deliver a 'bigger and better' product frequently leads to extended development delays or the total abandonment of follow-up projects.
Push to TalkJan 2025

Writers

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