Eric Barone, creator of Stardew Valley, shared a progress update on his upcoming game Haunted Chocolatier in June 2026, marking more than five years since development began in 2020 [1, 2].
Haunted Chocolatier was announced publicly in 2021, but Barone has yet to announce a release date [1, 2]. He acknowledged the long development span without a finished game, saying, "I know it’s taking a long time. Feels kinda dumb posting this same thing over and over, but that’s the reality" [1].
Barone emphasized his goal for the game to be "perfect" in many aspects, especially the user interface. He said, "The things in the game which the player will be interacting with or using very often need to be 'perfect.' They need to be seamless, clear, intuitive, satisfying, aesthetic" [2]. The recipe book UI for making chocolates has received particular iterative attention to balance usability and information. Barone explained, "You need to be able to accomplish your goal with the minimal number of clicks. There needs to be just the right amount of data presented to the player: not so much as to be overwhelming, but not so little as to be trivial or mundane" [3]. He added, "If all of that is accomplished then the player is now comfortable while perusing the recipe book. But I want more than just comfort. I want to delight the player" [2].
Haunted Chocolatier is described as an action role-playing and life simulation game where players run a chocolate shop and build relationships with townspeople. It is stylistically similar to Stardew Valley but emphasizes combat more [1].
Barone continues work on both Haunted Chocolatier and Stardew Valley, with ongoing updates for the latter, including the 1.7 update near Stardew Valley’s 10th anniversary [1]. He prefers to focus on development rather than marketing at this stage, withholding new screenshots or detailed promotional material until the game is ready [4, 3].
The latest June 2026 blog post detailed the iterative design process as Barone strives toward a polished user experience and gameplay that meets his high standards [1, 2, 4, 3]. The next major public update or release timeline for Haunted Chocolatier remains to be announced.
