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'Stardew Valley' makes its way to the Nintendo Switch on October 5

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Stardew Valley Nintendo Switch Trailer
Eric Barone’s Stardew Valley garnered critical acclaim when it originally launched on PC in 2016 and it later launched on

PlayStation 4

 and

Xbox One

, giving an even larger audience a chance to explore its tranquil, charming world. Soon, Nintendo Switch owners will be able to play it as well, as the game is out on the platform later this week.
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Publisher Chucklefish’s CEO Finn Bruce tweeted the news earlier on Monday, October 2, saying that the game would be available on Thursday, October 5 for $15. As a nice bonus, that is the day of the harvest moon for 2017, which usually begins in September.

“I’m very happy to see Stardew come to a Nintendo console,” developer Eric Barone added on the game’s website. “I grew up on Nintendo, after all. This will not only be the first time Stardew Valley appears on a Nintendo platform, but also the first time Stardew will be on a portable system.”

The Switch version was developed by Sickhead Games, a studio that is no stranger to porting acclaimed games. Previously, the studio developed the PlayStation 4 and Vita versions of Darkest Dungeon, as well as the Vita versions of Axiom Verge, Octodad: Dadliest Catch, and Towerfall Ascension.

While Stardew Valley hasn’t been released for Vita yet, a curious fan received word from Barone that the game was actually running on the device already, and that once it had been optimized, he was hoping for a release later in 2017. That seems unlikely at this point, but it would certainly be a welcome addition to the Vita library whenever it does release. Sony ceased development for the console, with Japanese publishers and independent developers managing to keep it afloat, though new PlayStation Plus games are still available for free each month.

Stardew Valley was in development for about five years, beginning as a project for first-time developer Barone after he became frustrated with recent Harvest Moon iterations. When he began development, he promised eager players that the game would include online multiplayer. That is still in development at Chucklefish, though technical issues have kept it from release thus far. You can read more about the game’s extended development in journalist Jason Schreier’s book, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels.

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Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
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Stardew Valley Multiplayer Fishing

Stardew Valley is a game made by just one person, but it has seen more success than most games made by dozens, or even hundreds, of people. It's even one of Digital Trends' top 50 video games of all time. Since its release in 2016, the game has been updated regularly with new features and content to keep its avid fans coming back. This includes an online multiplayer component that allows you and up to three friends to hang out on each other's farms. And with the recent trend of games allowing players on different platforms to join together, you may wonder if Stardew Valley offers cross-platform functionality. Here's everything we know about cross-platform support in Stardew Valley.
Is Stardew Valley cross-platform?
Stardew Valley does not offer cross-platform support, meaning you can't play online multiplayer between any of the systems the game is on. So if you want to team up with some friends, make sure you all are playing on the same platform, such as the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, or PC. Also be aware that whoever starts a multiplayer game is saving that shared world locally, meaning no one else can reenter that world without the host present.

The sad fact of the matter is there doesn't seem to be any indication that crossplay will come to Stardew Valley. The game's official Reddit still lists it as not being supported, and there was only one mention of it by the developer on Twitter back in 2018, when he responded to a question asking if crossplay would come to the game. He replied, "Unfortunately, there will not be crossplay. Apparently, the technical barriers are very high. It's still something I really want to add and I promise to look into it more closely, but first priority is getting the update out there." This was many years ago, and there has been no further information about cross-platform play since, so it seems very unlikely that we will see support for this functionality come to Stardew Valley.

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