Since 2016, dozens of farm and life sim games have been chasing the success of Stardew Valley—fated to be forever compared with Eric Barone’s breakout indie hit. Now that he’s announced his next game, the shop sim Haunted Chocolatier, Barone says he’s well aware that his second game may wind up chasing after his first game just as much as all those others.Barone sat down on a livestream with Reason Studios, the developers of the music software that he used to create all of Stardew Valley’s soundtrack. Before jumping into the music itself, Reason’s host compares Barone’s success with Stardew Valley and the resulting pressure on Haunted Chocolatier to the “sophomore slump” theory of bands struggling to live up to an initial hit with a second album. “I can relate to some degree with working on Haunted Chocolatier,” Barone says. “Which is a game that’s very much in Stardew Valley’s shadow at this point and will be compared to it.
— Read on www.pcgamer.com/stardew-valley-creator-isnt-intimidated-by-the-sophomore-slump/