Eric Barone (born December 3, 1987), known professionally as ConcernedApe, is an American game designer and musician. He is best known for independently creating the video game Stardew Valley.[2]
Barone was born in Los Angeles and spent his childhood in Auburn, Washington, a suburb in the Seattle metropolitan area.[3] He cites the Harvest Moon series as his childhood favorite that stayed with him into adulthood.[2] He attended the University of Washington Tacoma and graduated in 2011 with a degree in computer science.[2] Barone had practiced basic programming but did not consider making video games as a career. Unable to find employment after graduating college, he initially began developing Stardew Valley in order to practice programming in C#, and planned to put the game on his resume for potential employers.[4] Barone worked on the game daily as its sole creator until its release in 2016. He announced Haunted Chocolatier in 2021, which has no set release date.[5]
Barone began working on Stardew Valley in 2012 and released it in 2016. He was praised for creating the game independently,[6] as its sole designer, programmer, animator, artist, composer, and writer. To complete the game, Barone worked 10 hours a day, seven days a week,[7] for four and a half years. For part of that time, he lived with his parents to save money before moving out with his girlfriend to Capitol Hill, Seattle.[8] During this time, his girlfriend Amber Hageman worked two jobs to support the both of them while Barone worked a part-time job as an evening usher at the Paramount Theatre.[3][8][9]
Barone initially released Stardew on the PC before later developing it for other consoles. By February 2024, he had sold over 30 million copies.[10]
In 2017, he was named by Forbes magazine in their list "30 Under 30: Games" for his work on Stardew Valley.[11] Since 2019, Barone has been assisted on Stardew Valley by another designer.[12]
In 2011, Barone created a comic book series called Wumbus World.[13] The game's main character is found as a piece of furniture in Stardew Valley.
In 2014, Barone took a month long break during the development of Stardew Valley. During this break, Barone used his time to piece together a small mobile game to release on Android. The game was titled Air Pear and was released on March 6, 2014. In the game, players would need to guide a purple pear on a skateboard between obstacles and compete for a high score. The main character of the game is seen in both Stardew Valley during "The Festival of Ice" event and during a trailer for the new game Haunted Chocolatier.[14]
In 2020, Barone announced that he was working on several new games, with one of them set in the Stardew Valley universe.[15]
On August 15, 2020, the orchestral album Symphonic Tale: The Place I Truly Belong (Music from Stardew Valley) directed by Kentaro Sato and performed by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra was released.[16] The album includes 15 tracks from the game's original soundtrack.
In February 2021, Barone and board game designer Cole Medeiros released a cooperativeboard game adaptation of Stardew Valley.[17] After the first printing of the game went on sale, it quickly sold out. Sales were later reopened with several changes.[18]
Barone collaborated with Norihiko Hibino on an album series Prescription for Sleep. The series remixes video game soundtracks with piano and saxophone. The Stardew Valley album was released in May 2021. It includes 10 tracks from the game's original soundtrack and one new track called "Beauty in the Seasons".[19]
In October 2021, Barone announced that a new game titled Haunted Chocolatier was in development, with no set release date.[20] In the game, the player will run a chocolate shop. It will have a greater focus on combat than in Stardew Valley. Barone stated that "almost everything in Haunted Chocolatier, including the combat, is completely coded (and drawn) from scratch."[21]
In 2022, Barone collaborated on an animated music video with indie pop band Alvvays for the band's song "Many Mirrors". Barone is responsible for the video's animation and it was his first time working with 3D animation.[22]
On August 31, 2023, Barone announced The Official Stardew Valley Cookbook, which released on May 14, 2024.[23][24] The book is co-written by Barone and Ryan Novak, author of Stardew Valley Guidebook, and includes more than 50 recipes adapted from the in-game recipes featured in Stardew Valley.[24]
On October 10, 2023, Barone announced the first Stardew Valley concert tour, Stardew Valley: Festival of Seasons, featuring a selection of music from the game performed live by a chamber orchestra.[25]
