Stardew Valley was recently in the news for its upcoming collaboration with Infinity Nikki. Some might assume Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone will enjoy a nice windfall from this, but the developer has clarified that he doesn’t get paid for these kinds of crossovers and collaborations–and that’s on purpose.
Posting on social media (via PC Gamer), Barone said, “To be clear, I never receive any money from these collabs. I’ve only done them because I was a fan of the other games, or because I genuinely thought the players would like it.” His fans responded to say he should profit even more off his creation, but Barone replied, “It’s okay, I’ve made enough from sales of the game.”
All of Stardew Valley’s past collaborations have been one-sided, with Stardew Valley content showing up in other games, like Balatro. The one exception was the Stardew Valley crossover with Terraria, for which both games received collaborative content with each other. Of this partnership, Barone said, “It was great. I love Terraria.”
Stardew Valley has sold more than 40 million copies. The game goes for $15, but it’s also gone on sale multiple times over the years. In any event, Barone–the game’s sole developer–has likely made a small fortune from the game’s sales.
Although Barone is not taking direct payment for any collaborations, he and Stardew Valley do benefit from the increased exposure.
Barone is now making a new title, Haunted Chocolatier, in which players run a confectionary and interact with people and ghosts. The game has no release date yet.
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