Charging a one time payment of $15 for a full game, promising no extra charge for any DLC, and fulfilling that promise and comitting to it even after 8 years? AAA publishers could never. This is what "listening" and being gracious to your players actually looks like. PATREON: www.patreon.com/yongyea TWITTER: twitter.com/yongyea INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/yong_yea TIKTOK: www.tiktok.com/@yongyea TOP PATRONS [BIG BOSS] - Devon B [BOSS] - Gerardo Andrade - Michael Redmond - Phil
Easy to say those things and “oath” when he’s just making and publishing a $15 cheap 2D indie that’s designed specifically for the PC Steam Casual audiences, instead of a super ambitious $300 million storytelling AAA.
@@briankeebler4634 thanks to indie games, Skul the hero slayer and Dead Cells made me love Rouge likes, Stardew valley made me love farming and these type of games aren't usually my cup of tea now thats a bar had been raised.
Eric is awesome. When the game first came out physically I asked if I could send my copy to him to sign. He told me not to bother and that he would send me a signed copy for free, which let me gift my copy to a friend. To this day it's one of my most treasured gaming processions.
Bonus points for the Castlevania Simon’s Curse style typo in the end there either it was deliberate or not. 😄 Awesome story too by the way. I am extremely late to the party as my backlog of games to play is pretty big but I really need to buy Stardew Valley for myself soon, I always loved Harvest Moon so I know I’ll love this one.
Usually AAA companies produce good enough profit. It's just that the owner of the company wants to squeeze the money out. Look at bethesda (before sold to microsoft) and capcom. They always release whatever-edition to their franchise like skyrim and street fighter to fulfill the quota set by the owner. Capcom's ceo literally uses the company as his financial support for his wine business
Bought Stardew years ago for the Switch so my daughter and I could have a couch co-op game that was actually fun to play together. 1 month later bought a third copy so my wife could play with us. Recently bought 2 more copies on steam so we could play 1.6 together. $75 well spent.
Imagine paying just $75 for four games you can enjoy with your family and/or friends for hundreds of hours... The AAA game corpos are really messed up.
Its cases like Stardew Valley that reinforce the “it’s just nostalgia” take is wrong. Games used to be different. They used to be fun and filled with passion. Before the industry became big enough to enforce the greed we see today. Stardew is a window into what every game used to be like. There was passion and personality and fun poured into every game before money became the primary motivator. It’s not like I got older and just hate all new games. There are plenty of examples, in this case Stardew, that prove otherwise. Games can still be equally as incredible as they used to be. Most just choose not to.
What people need to understand is Games are still like that. You just need to look elsewhere outside AAA bubble. Indie scene is full of garbage, but also full of treasures. Gaming is like this, has always been like this.
@@ZeroXSEED Within reason I believe you are correct. But you didn’t have to worry so much or look so hard back then. You didn’t have to literally be on guard when you were interested in a game. Even massive AAA franchises like Halo were full of passion and creativity in the early 2000’s. The difference is now you have to go sifting for these qualities in indie titles. It used to be such that a vast majority of games were fun and had this passion behind it. AAA or not. Now it’s something you have to search for.
@@ZeroXSEEDSome indie games are lack of something, or mediocre, I agree. But at least, most of them has PASSION. Passion of wanting people love their game, completing own piece, not money(or at least, not primarily)
I mean.. Doom 3 back in 2004 had the Resurrection of Evil expansion in 2005 that was also released as a stand alone game.. That's a practice that's been happening for basically 20years or more Just today's games are way more egregious with said practice
If I’m not mistaken, one of Stardew Valley’s message is anti-corporate as seen with Joja Mart in the game. Excited to see his progress with his new game, Haunted Chocolatier.
Its not just anti-corporate, there is anti-war themes as well. Look deep enough and you learn there is awful war going on somewhere in that world. Which is disconcerting to think of given how idlic it is. Its beautiful in a way
Concerned Ape is a madman, I can’t believe he built that entire game by himself, from all the programming to artwork to music, play testing it himself, and it’s the best farming Harvest Moon type game out there. Can someone please make a documentary about making this game???
I'm a big music person and the music in stardew valley is some of the best out there. People always talk about how cozy the game is and it's unbelievably true. The music isn't overbearing and all of it fits so well with whatever part of the game you're in. Take the fall music for example. It fits perfectly between the upbeat sounds of summer and the almost melancholy of winter. It really is incredible how he was able to capture the seasons so well with the music
One thing that I do admire in the story of Stardew valley's development is how supportive ConcernedApe's family was. His girlfriend even took a job and never once doubted the project that he was creating.
Not enough people know the story behind all that to appreciate all the risks he took to get where he is, the sad thing is he was also fairly 'lucky' (not downing on the game at all ) in that it was a success, so many indies take these sorts of risks and don't get the payoff and disappear into the ether, its a rough industry, but very cool when you see some of the success stories payoff so the devs can continue their passions.
His girlfriend even took a job.... Most people do unless they're born with a silver spoon in their mouth. An odd reveal in an otherwise informative opinion.
@@terrylandess6072I think they meant to say she took a second full-time job in order to support Eric while he worked full time on stardew valley. Atleast, that's the story I've heard before.
And now he's making "oaths" on the internet not to ever sell any additional content while he probably has at least a quarter of a billion dollars in the bank. Literally a quarter billion, yes. - I'm so goshdarned impressed by his oath...
That line coming from something produced by riot is incredibly ironic. (They've been repeatedly accused and sued for covering up abuses, particularly racism and sexual harassment).
@@RhinoBarbarian they've been proven to have done it in court, a few of the lawsuits won even. Also if it didn't then those striking workers wouldn't have had legally solid ground to do that would they.
It's worth noting that the reason update 1.6 took so long for PC, and is taking so long for the mobile port right now, is because a bunch of back-end code was being rewritten to be more mod friendly. And yes, this did break a majority of the existing mods when 1.6 was released, but many of the mods got compatibility updates within a week (so long as the mod developer was still active at least).
I don't know if it's every year, but for the laat 2 Christmas' in a row now on [an unnamed message board], Ape comes on a gives away over a hundred Steam and Switch keys for Stardew Valley. It's at a point now where positivity is so high that if someone misses out on the give-away, other users are happy to buy the game and gift it to them.
Damn, there is such a loving and passionate community round a farming sim that people gift the game cause they missed out on a free giveaway. Wow, thats actually really heartwarming. People really want to share their experience with it.
All of those are true classics indeed. Nowadays it's a game out lf a hundred that are that good. Heck, even masterpieces like In Stars and Time charged a movie ticket for their prototype. Which was still a great game, but very short
Stardew Valley has been a game that showed up for me when Harvest Moon wasn't really doing it for me anymore. I have put in thousands of hours into the game along with replayed it so many times too. It's a gem of its time. And what's better is CA will eventually release his new game that is based around chocolate-making with the same love and care as Stardew Valley. CA has grown to be one of my favorite indie devs.
I have over 3000 hours in Stardew Valley and still can't get THAT ONE secret achivment. Who knows, knows. The history of making this game is amazing and full of hardships. I bought Stardew Valley cooking book and it's really great. Now I'm waiting for Haunted Chocolatier.
@@TheBoardGamer It's got potential, but you need to homebrew it to have fun with it. The rules as they are written are not fun, but with some minor tweaks you can make it a lot better.
I have a feeling I know exactly which secret achievement you're talking about. I did manage to beat the game once, but beating it deathless is still very much beyond me.
@@hoodiesticks which is a huge problem for me because almost every board game I own is fun straight out of the box. It takes a lot of effort to make it fun which sucks, plus I saw prices of like $100 online. Which is far too much for a game that wants me to do the designers job for them. I just recommend anyone who's thinking of purchasing go to a local game store first and see if they have a copy you can play to try it out because it's not that good but if you're a diehard enough fan it could be worth it if you wanted to do tweaks like you said
@@TheBoardGamer That is a very fair point. I'm a bit more forgiving, because I played it with a Tabletop Simulator mod, but I get that people who invested a hundred dollars would be mad.
I would nominate Deadcell's second dev team. They really poured out so much love for the game that even though some content is paywalled its worth the buy. Its a proper shame the original IP owners forced developement of further content to cease all so their new title didnt have competition, and save face that it wasnt them still supporting the game after they made it. They are not considerate or thoughtful.
That man is such a darling of the industry its crazy. On top of that his game is great im really hoping haunted chocolatire (the new game) is just as good if not better than stardew! We really need that love in the industry
This is the type of game I'll buy on every platform JUST BECAUSE I want to support it. And that's BECAUSE the game and the developer ACTUALLY DESERVES IT and then some.
The Problem is incentive. The people who manage these things are CEOs who get replaced every now and then. They have no incentive for long term profit if it's the next guy's lunch. So they aim for short twrm gain and then have golden parachutes.
We need more ceos like Swen. He can be your gamer buddy one moment and/or your corporate boss the next and still make you feel like you're worth something at he company. It makes coming in to work worth it. You even feel happier. Can't say the same for Blizzard.
@@silverhawkscape2677 You just described the source of 99% of current issues. Be it business or politics , the guys at the top are temporary so care only about quick results (and when the problems need long term solutions , they usually are ignored with some kind of bs solution to look like its not )
tbh considering Concerned Ape is mainly a solo dev, he probably has enough money to support himself and his children for a lifetime so he can make bold decisions like this without worry.
This is the way in which normal people relate to money. If I had $5 million, I'd probably never work for money ever again. I would work entirely on personal projects, or at a job I really, really enjoyed. I'd even take a pay cut for a more enjoyable job. When you have a large amount of wealth like that, more wealth ceases to be motivational. At least for regular people. It's one of the reasons why I have trouble accepting that corporate executives are human beings. Their lust for exorbitant amounts of money is utterly alien.
@@2020-p2zI’m sure many people felt exactly the same as you before they gotten rich. You’re under the impression that once you have these 5m dollars in the bank you’ll continue the exact same way of life you currently live, but just won’t have to worry about money anymore. But that’s not what usually happens is it? More often than not people will start making purchases that fit their new wealth, requiring an additional injection to sustain it. Once you can suddenly afford things you could only dream of owning you might look at things differently.
@@2020-p2z If you had $5 million, and you never worked for money again, you'd not take all that many years to be back to normal levels of money and regular full time employment (especially if supporting a family). What you Can do is be a lot more picky about what work you do, what compromises you'll make, and what compensation you'll accept for said work. You've got a lot more room to take (small, on the business scale, calculated) risks.
@@2020-p2z as an indie dev myself, but all revenue of an AAA game don't go to just the executives but all the dev and workers. According to studies, 27 game executives make more than one million dollars per year (not per game) , but those games make anywhere from $100 million to even billions now. 1 million is 1/1000th of a billion. The rest of the money goes to shareholders and workers. As much as AAA game devs workers like programmers complain about the industry, many of them are paid $100K per game, so the workers have to eat, too. Let's say Concerned Ape gets 50% of his game sales as profit, well, he's made more than 10 million dollars for sure just for himself and thus he can make any decisions what he wants. I guess my point is AAA games have to worry about giving hundreds of workers a salary, not just executives.
Honestly, he could release the exact same game with 16 bit graphics instead call it Star2 Valley. and I think half the playerbase would instantly buy it without thinking, just because of how awesome he's been
Mortal Kombat DLC is $60 dollars with half as much content as Stardew Valley. Hell, even compared to another AAA game, Elden Ring DLC was only $40 and was damn near the size of a whole new game. I just don't get greedy publishers overcharging for mediocre/underwhelming content (in reference to MK, ER DLC was PHENOMENAL)
Monster Hunter's been pretty good about it, too. World and Rise released at 60 bucks each, then their expansions sold for 40 bucks each AND knocked the base prices for the base games to 20 bucks, so people joining in after the expansions' release only pay like 60 bucks for the game AND the expansion.
@@LloydTheZephyrian That's a great example of how to release DLC AND increase the player base. It just seems like a win-win for the company and consumers.
In situations like this, i wish there was a way to provide extra support (usually in form of DLCs, going best faith) because the devs have earned that goodwill. That said, i guess I could just buy another copy on a different platform.
Or make a new account on steam simply to buy a game on a new account hahaha. Rather than that though, might as well gift it to people you know and have them enjoy the game too (hopefully)
That's where you just start buying it for random people on your friends lists pick up a dozen codes and spread it like a cold if you've the funds and desire why not? good will towards gamers
As someone who has played Stardew Valley since its early days, & have it on both PC & console. This game is a true gem in a greed infested industry. Concerned Apes shows that you CAN make a good game, & not monetize it to hell & back. Good on the devs for keeping his game pure, & untouched by greed. Also, he make the API, known online as SMAPI, available to anyone who wants to mod, with no extra charge. And there is no end of mods for the game.
I'm still playing the game since day one, the dev knows what he is doing and listen to reddit sub for people opinions too, he also helped player personally when encounter errors. He really love his child.
When my partner bought me Stardew years ago I played the crap out of it and it was one of the most wholesome gaming experiences I've ever had. It's an adorable game with so, so much heart.
Nice gunshow Yong! 😂 also i love Stardew Valley i will never get tired of playing it. It's amazing that Eric Barone did all of this by himself and I don't mind waiting for the DLC this man has really done a wonderful job plus he communicates with his fans on Twitter which I always respect about him( "I refuse to call it X")
Tekken 8 over here charging us skins that already exist in tekken 7 that were free. They even tried removing cool mod skins that modders created themselves
I love the old timey tone that tweet has, like something you'd hear in Medieval Europe or Asia. "On the other of my name and family I will never charge for new content. If I break this vow, I accpet the great shame it shall come with."
Thank you for making a video that shines a little not at the drama and bad practices we constantly hear, but about a developer that does things right. It’s easy to overshadow the quality devs with all the terrible studios that abuse their customers.
At least indie devs are very passionate about their games, which is why I'm going into the indie dev scene since I'm pursuing game design & will be graduating college later this year
Paying $10 or $15 for a large content DLC is not a problem. Like Elden Ring Shadow of the Erd tree for example at $40 has more than 60 hours of content easily.. Paying big price for massive amount of content. This is totally fine. But paying $10 for a skin? Or even more?? NOT okay. Shadow of the erd tree required probably tens of thousands of work hours. A skin might take 5 to 20 hours.. its not even in the same realm of amount of effort va returns. That is NOT okay.
So... proper expansion packs, the sort that used to warrent their own physical release before 'DLC' was a thing (... discounting some of the worst of the expansion packs for The Sims games, I guess). Cheaper to make (and cheaper for the customer) than a full on sequel, but usually either a sequel or spin off plot wise, where applicable, with big changes like entire extra factions, maps/areas, etc. The only problem came when a game got Multiple of the things, as each one generally Required that you already have the previous one(s).
@@laurencefraserI wouldn’t see that as a problem. It just means you’re paying for what the story (expansion) is worth. You are basically buying the sequel game (at a slightly reduced price).
See, contrary to that persons tweet about ‘ as long as it’s free everyone will be happy’ I’d actually be ok if he wanted to charge for an abnormally large dlc. The man’s been spoiling us since the game came out. Concernedape deserves every penny he gets.
Look at rimworld, phenomenal game that provides updates for free but ALSO has paid dlc that can completely change the way the game is played. If stardew added a 10 dollar dlc with a little "this purchase funds more free updates, please enjoy" I don't think anyone would complain
Until terraria devs start doing it with no additional cost I don't see why he would when he said he wouldn't In fact the only reason he continues to develop the game despite many points trying to make his other game he always comes back same way relogic does to terraria Passionate devs and a passionate community if he charged for dlc in his standard it would have to be something massive and huge but most of his time is spent trying to tweak and add things in retrospect The mobile and console version are behind updates in comparison to the PC version if I'm correct so that's unfortunately where a lot of his time is spent, sometimes when you love something and continue to work on it you get inspired and it's an endless cycle Its also why I mentioned terraria lmao those devs have continued to say every update is the final update until they just kept doing It
People are generally quite happy to pay for a full on oldstyle expansion pack level DLC. Individual skins or the like, on the other hand, are a whole other matter.
@@laurencefraser indeed if its cosmetics and such they should be cheap, and honestly you better have the goodwill of the community before offering that. But yeah in regards to your first statement, that was the case with the second dev team of Deadcells. They put out quality free content and occassionally a more considerable dlc with things that expand the game in more meaningful way was made available to purchase. But like you said, people liked the game, and this was a way not only to enjoy it further but continue to support it. Like the dev of Helldivers put it, you have to earn the right to further monitization (in what ever regards that may be)
Bought this on 3 separate platforns just for the initial features which were eons ahead of the competition in farm games but the updates just blow my mind. Just the seamless coop mods where you can have a friend just go and join you on your farm either online or locally at any tine, it just blows my mind.
Stardew also does inclusion in a way that's not in your face. It's not advertised or anything, it's just there and no one complains about it. Awesome game done awesomely. I've bought this on every platform I have and will continue to do so.
Financially Stardew Valley has sold multiple tens of millions so they're in a position to do this. Other indies still need DLC and additional support just to keep the lights on.
I don’t think anyone is trying to deny that. The point is CA COULD do it but won’t. It’s admirable even if we acknowledge that he’s still making money hand over fist 15 bucks at a time.
CA put in the time and effort to make the game fun, smooth, and fulfilling. It is no surprise the game has sold so exceptionally well. He kept his vision with no corporate influence. Also free updates bring back content creators to the game which leads to new copies being sold. So it actually could be an ok business strategy, especially when he has made a lot of money already. edit: This was not to dismiss the fact that not everyone can become a multi millionaire by making a game, was the game good or not.
Stardew Valley is my gaming therapy. It's such a cozy and relaxing game with elements that are unique yet also simultaneously feel nostalgic and bittersweet. I'll forever be in love with this game.
I keep coming back and back to SDV. It's just sweet little game with a decent bloke at its helm (also props to his partner, who saw he was struggling to get any sleep and convinced him to quit his job so he could work on it full time and financially supported the household until he was able to make money from the project).
For me and it's something I realised fairly recently is that I don't mind paid dlc, I mind over inflated dlc prices. I've always never really purchased dlc but I started recently playing payday 2 with my friends and seeing how cheap and affordable the dlcs and packs were made me actually but a few because it's just affordable. I didn't feel guilt nor felt like it was regrettable purchase I was just happy and satisfied and because it was a great price I bought more than one
No one complains about paying for a properly made Expansion pack, after all. You'll get some debate about the suitability of the price, but not over whether it should be paid for, unless it's so bad that the debate is actually over whether it should have even been Released.
Stardew Valley is my favorite video game. I've bought it 4 times (PS4, Switch, Steam, and Android). I am happy to pay for a game multiple times that I love this much. Especially when that money goes to support someone like Concerned Ape, who has absolutely earned it with the hard work he's put into the game.
I released indie SRPG Telepath Tactics back in 2015, put out 6 months of free updates, then completely remade the game from the ground up in a new engine--Telepath Tactics Liberated--and gave it to owners of the original game for free. It's now been more than two years of free updates to Telepath Tactics Liberated. This is just how some of us roll. 🙂
Minecraft, with some exceptions like on console or whatever. But plenty more games, probably. I mean, there's stuff like 'Don't Starve' that keeps putting out stuff for free, alongside some paid stuff I believe. It's not really unlike 'Stardew Valley' in terms of the studio, though they're with more people and have more projects. - Or maybe Free Lives with stuff like 'Broforce'.
The Paralives devs have put this as part of their project plan when the game goes into Early Access next year, but we'll see how well the promise holds up once they finish. Hopefully if it's true, it'll potentially force EA to at least lower the costs of their Sims DLCs if a successful competitor shows up with this sort of business model.
AAA developers and publishers were never around for what actual live service games are. Games like Terraria, Factorio, consistent updates, free additional content huge overhauls.
Nah, an Actual live service is oldschool subscription based MMOs: You're actually paying for an Actual Service (running and maintaining the servers, and the code actually supporting the game, which was often arcane and running on weird dedicated custom hardware because there was no off the shelf solution for such things yet) that is Always Live (except for brief maintenance periods and the occasional disaster/major update). The better ones managed to fund constant content updates from the subscription fees, too. (Seriously, look into the history of City of Heroes at some point... it's wild.)
Seeing that tweet makes me want to ship my money to ConcernedApe in pallets. I cannot express how much pro-consumer practices and just not being obscenely greedy makes me want to give a company money.
Any company that has “investors” is NEVER going to have the players’ best interest at heart. Their FIRST priority is to their shareholders and investors. If a good game comes out of that, then that’s a bonus.
I think Japanese games might also have a role digging the industry out of the hole they are in. At the moment, almost all good games are indie, Asian and from some European countries but not other. To be more specific do I think Nintendo's next machine will basically gank Sony and Microsoft pretty hard, both of them seems to have totally lost it. Indie companies are however the seeds for when the AAA companies in the west go down and I think a lot of them are going down now. They are both greedy and have lost the connection with the gamers who are supposed to buy and enjoy their games which is why we are seeing so massive layoffs. Indie games like Stardew valley and Rimworld are just fun to play so even if they are a few years old, they are still hitting high on steam. Meanwhile Sony's Concord's open beta failed to even get 2500 players when it was free and it will cost $40 + micro transactions to buy, Flintlock got 650 players at best on Steam, Sushi squad peaked at 13 500 and so on. There is almost no AAA games to look forward to at all, they mostly seems like cynical cashgrabs from marketing weasels who never would game themselves. So yeah, indie games + Nintendo got us out of the old E.T game crash, and I wouldn't be the least surprised if it is what get us out of this one too. Still, last time it lead to the gigantic publishers we have today, EA and Activision made small games around the time of the first crash and investors got involved and eventually turned them into the giants that are the problem today while Atari really never recovered.
Stardew Valley is a game that is very close to my heart. The amount of effort and passion put into the game is obvious and Concerned Ape's approach is a large part of why I have come back to it on and off since I first bought it.
Additional shout out to Powerwash Simulator devs, Future Labs, for being an amazing example of how games can do both paid and free DLC right! Regular free maps keep coming out, the last one a couple weeks ago, and when they are paid they are reasonably priced at about $7 (USD) and always 5 big maps and a lot of fun and on theme writing!
You just can't compete with this game. It's impossible. Yesterday I completed a bundle and then ran around the community center for five minutes to watch the little Junimo do a little jump and start following me whenever I approached it. There is just so much love and care in this game, it's impossible to compete.
Another game I would recommend in this vein is Slime Rancher and its sequel. The _only_ DLC outside the soundtrack was a completely optional skin pack. Every expansion they've done has been completely free, the only downside is that they're slow at updating.
Slightly off-topic but the talk of indie dev integrity reminded me of one large reason why I hated Epic Games Store's approach of throwing money around to secure artificial exclusives: it made many small devs compromise their integrity. The situation was frequently that a crowdfunded game - usually including certain promises regarding platform and store availability - caught the attention of Epic, they waved their mountains of cash around, and the devs agreed to becoming EGS exclusive. Backers who supported the project based on the availability promises were sometimes refunded if they raised enough of a stink but the fact remains that the project gained clout based on promises the devs later knowingly broke, and without this clout EGS may not have approached them in the first place. It's difficult to begrudge a small company in a financially shaky situation accepting such an insanely (and as it turned out to no one's surprise, unsustainably) beneficial deal, esp. if it means securing the livelihoods of a team's worth of people for the foreseeable future, but that doesn't change the fact that these devs broke promises and quite literally sold out their integrity.
I got Stardew Valley as a gift from my husband at launch and I spent soooo much time on it. I would play till 5 am sometimes becuase I loved this game. I don't play to much anymore but it's still installed and waiting for me to come back. The chucklfish devs are built different and I love them for it.
Take just about everything said in this video but change the game to no man's sky and you pretty much have the same thing too. That indie developer did amazing stuff too and they even recently updated the graphics And system overhaul which is almost AAA level stuff. It also has dozens of big updates and none of it was paid it was all free DLC Not to take away from stardew valley achievements but it is awesome that these indie developers have been knocking it out of the park
Could you schedule an interview with Eric and Amber. I realize this isn't your style. But I feel like so many people relate with their story and there's still so much to tell. It doesn't have to be all about just the game, but also their background/values... and stories about their experience before and after its release. It's just so genuinely interesting to see their success and I wouldn't be surprised if they make a movie.
@@michaelmonstar4276 There's a lot of material in there that involves personal discoverey and the general human experience. The movie would be likely a couple stages: 1st his early experience with his dad (engineer) /mom (musician).... then his life going through comp sci and ending up working minimum wage... meeting his gf... learning more about their relationship (not a lot of people would date someone who spends 5 years making video games, or even pay their rent) then progressing into his idea to make a video game... the conflict would be him constanly pushing the deadline and devloping guilt or getting doubted by a lot of people, aside of his close family, interjected with moments of humanity such as him learning to draw and improving his music theory, balancing work vs relationships, and then him having to reconcile between giving up or not. Then the actual climax is releasing the game. Basically the idea is to make a movie about something we can all relate to... having big ideas but never following through and what that actually means when you do.
I feel so spoiled for having Stardew Valley. The next game he shells out I’m gonna get it. Don’t matter if I might not like it (which I am almost positive I will). I’ll just support the dude.
Charging a one time payment of $15 for a full game, promising no extra charge for any DLC, and fulfilling that promise and comitting to it even after 8 years? AAA publishers could never. This is what "listening" and being gracious to your players actually looks like.
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TOP PATRONS
[BIG BOSS]
- Devon B
[BOSS]
- Gerardo Andrade
- Michael Redmond
- Phil
Always got to be first? Lol
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I'll admit i don't have interest in stardew valley but props where it's due.
Terraria is the exact same way. I bought it on the ps3 and now i play it on my ps5
Easy to say those things and “oath” when he’s just making and publishing a $15 cheap 2D indie that’s designed specifically for the PC Steam Casual audiences, instead of a super ambitious $300 million storytelling AAA.
Its hilarious to see a AAA game outsold by an indie farming game a very good one.
Same can be said about Lethal Company out selling COD
@@sdgamer1860 now that's a big achievement.
Goofy, hilarious but passionate game beats the F out from corpo game. Now that's drama people love
I've always supported indie games more than AAA and usually gravitate towards them.
@@briankeebler4634 thanks to indie games, Skul the hero slayer and Dead Cells made me love Rouge likes, Stardew valley made me love farming and these type of games aren't usually my cup of tea now thats a bar had been raised.
Eric is awesome. When the game first came out physically I asked if I could send my copy to him to sign. He told me not to bother and that he would send me a signed copy for free, which let me gift my copy to a friend. To this day it's one of my most treasured gaming processions.
That's such a sweet story!
that is soo cute.. wow.. he is really awwesome
Yo, that's so cool!
Bonus points for the Castlevania Simon’s Curse style typo in the end there either it was deliberate or not. 😄
Awesome story too by the way. I am extremely late to the party as my backlog of games to play is pretty big but I really need to buy Stardew Valley for myself soon, I always loved Harvest Moon so I know I’ll love this one.
That's cute and I could believe it lol
AAA: $70 and still having a "razor thin" profit margin
Indie: $10 and I will serve you forever
And then AAA's posting record profits to their shareholders every quarter...
@@crapshot321 ...while laying off a chunk of their workforce...
Usually AAA companies produce good enough profit. It's just that the owner of the company wants to squeeze the money out. Look at bethesda (before sold to microsoft) and capcom. They always release whatever-edition to their franchise like skyrim and street fighter to fulfill the quota set by the owner. Capcom's ceo literally uses the company as his financial support for his wine business
@@honesttyourself3523 Why? Is his wine business _that_ bad to need such support?
That 'razor thin' profit margin is more money than most of us will ever need.
Yet billion dollar companies make us spend $40 for a single skin after buying the game for $70.
Because a lot of people keeps buying them.
you need to swap those numbers with todays games a $40 game with $70 skins
That's why they have a billion dollars.
@@AngryCaesCorporation Please remember to shame NPCattle.
Same goes for promoting shit "what, I liked it bro :O"
"Make" you?? Ever heard of free will?
Bought Stardew years ago for the Switch so my daughter and I could have a couch co-op game that was actually fun to play together. 1 month later bought a third copy so my wife could play with us. Recently bought 2 more copies on steam so we could play 1.6 together. $75 well spent.
Imagine paying just $75 for four games you can enjoy with your family and/or friends for hundreds of hours... The AAA game corpos are really messed up.
@@Chas-OTE Right? Corpos wannt that much for an incomplete game these days. The gall!
That's something you can never get in a Corpo AAA Game quality.
the best 75$ u ever spent m8 its honestly really good !
Similar to you, I have been buying it for friends over the years, amazing game :)
Its cases like Stardew Valley that reinforce the “it’s just nostalgia” take is wrong. Games used to be different. They used to be fun and filled with passion. Before the industry became big enough to enforce the greed we see today. Stardew is a window into what every game used to be like. There was passion and personality and fun poured into every game before money became the primary motivator. It’s not like I got older and just hate all new games. There are plenty of examples, in this case Stardew, that prove otherwise. Games can still be equally as incredible as they used to be. Most just choose not to.
What people need to understand is Games are still like that. You just need to look elsewhere outside AAA bubble.
Indie scene is full of garbage, but also full of treasures. Gaming is like this, has always been like this.
@@ZeroXSEED Within reason I believe you are correct. But you didn’t have to worry so much or look so hard back then. You didn’t have to literally be on guard when you were interested in a game. Even massive AAA franchises like Halo were full of passion and creativity in the early 2000’s. The difference is now you have to go sifting for these qualities in indie titles. It used to be such that a vast majority of games were fun and had this passion behind it. AAA or not. Now it’s something you have to search for.
What an incredible comment.
@@ZeroXSEEDSome indie games are lack of something, or mediocre, I agree.
But at least, most of them has PASSION. Passion of wanting people love their game, completing own piece, not money(or at least, not primarily)
@@ZeroXSEEDused to be like this with AAA
Now it feels like 90% of things being released is garbage cuz they put money first.
Meanwhile the newest Mortal Kombat DLC is the price of a separate fucking game. The AAA industry is in a dark place right now.
The newest Mortal Kombat at least was launched recently. The Sims 4 is still pumping DLCs with astronomical prices to this day...
Factorio is the same but atleast the DLC seems worth paying the same price because its an actual expansion.
Line must always go up.
I mean.. Doom 3 back in 2004 had the Resurrection of Evil expansion in 2005 that was also released as a stand alone game.. That's a practice that's been happening for basically 20years or more
Just today's games are way more egregious with said practice
@@nekovannox My brother in Christ even Sims 3 DLC is still overpriced.
If I’m not mistaken, one of Stardew Valley’s message is anti-corporate as seen with Joja Mart in the game. Excited to see his progress with his new game, Haunted Chocolatier.
Its not just anti-corporate, there is anti-war themes as well. Look deep enough and you learn there is awful war going on somewhere in that world. Which is disconcerting to think of given how idlic it is. Its beautiful in a way
Concerned Ape is a madman, I can’t believe he built that entire game by himself, from all the programming to artwork to music, play testing it himself, and it’s the best farming Harvest Moon type game out there. Can someone please make a documentary about making this game???
didn't ThatGuyGlen make a video a few years back? was pretty good
@@moredinorno There's also a good one by Nello as well
The Stardew OST feels timeless and wonderful.
I'm a big music person and the music in stardew valley is some of the best out there. People always talk about how cozy the game is and it's unbelievably true. The music isn't overbearing and all of it fits so well with whatever part of the game you're in. Take the fall music for example. It fits perfectly between the upbeat sounds of summer and the almost melancholy of winter. It really is incredible how he was able to capture the seasons so well with the music
Here's a documentary for you - he sat down in front of his PC and made a game
One thing that I do admire in the story of Stardew valley's development is how supportive ConcernedApe's family was. His girlfriend even took a job and never once doubted the project that he was creating.
Not enough people know the story behind all that to appreciate all the risks he took to get where he is, the sad thing is he was also fairly 'lucky' (not downing on the game at all ) in that it was a success, so many indies take these sorts of risks and don't get the payoff and disappear into the ether, its a rough industry, but very cool when you see some of the success stories payoff so the devs can continue their passions.
His girlfriend even took a job.... Most people do unless they're born with a silver spoon in their mouth. An odd reveal in an otherwise informative opinion.
@@terrylandess6072I think they meant to say she took a second full-time job in order to support Eric while he worked full time on stardew valley. Atleast, that's the story I've heard before.
@@spencermoney7700 That is excellent. It looks like it paid off.
And now he's making "oaths" on the internet not to ever sell any additional content while he probably has at least a quarter of a billion dollars in the bank. Literally a quarter billion, yes. - I'm so goshdarned impressed by his oath...
I think a line from 'Arcane' can sum up the AAA gaming landscape: "In our effort to be great, we forgot to do good."
Goated Series
That line coming from something produced by riot is incredibly ironic.
(They've been repeatedly accused and sued for covering up abuses, particularly racism and sexual harassment).
@@icravedeath.1200
Accusations and lawsuits aren't proof.
@@RhinoBarbarian they've been proven to have done it in court, a few of the lawsuits won even.
Also if it didn't then those striking workers wouldn't have had legally solid ground to do that would they.
Considering LoL is one of the original tumors of gaming it's pretty ironic yes.
It's worth noting that the reason update 1.6 took so long for PC, and is taking so long for the mobile port right now, is because a bunch of back-end code was being rewritten to be more mod friendly. And yes, this did break a majority of the existing mods when 1.6 was released, but many of the mods got compatibility updates within a week (so long as the mod developer was still active at least).
And many popular mods, whose developers are not active anymore, where taken over by other people, at least temporarily.
Wow, thats based as hell cause updating that kind of code is supposed be really hard at this point.
And he also took advice from mod creators when planning to make the game more mod friendly.
Concerned Ape is truly The GOAT
No way! He's the APE! The concerned one!
it is a little unfortunate that his chosen name sounds like an NFT now lol
So uh you ever hear that Hello Games has been releasing FREE DLC for 8 YEARS!? cmon bro why you ignore them?
CHAD Stardew Valley humiliating AAA beta games with pure honesty and passion.
I don't know if it's every year, but for the laat 2 Christmas' in a row now on [an unnamed message board], Ape comes on a gives away over a hundred Steam and Switch keys for Stardew Valley.
It's at a point now where positivity is so high that if someone misses out on the give-away, other users are happy to buy the game and gift it to them.
Really?! I didn’t know that, that’s so awesome
That's what a real community is. You'd never see that behavior on cod
What an unfathomably based KING!
Damn, there is such a loving and passionate community round a farming sim that people gift the game cause they missed out on a free giveaway. Wow, thats actually really heartwarming. People really want to share their experience with it.
I can hardly wait for the Haunted Chocolatier
Honestly, I do have a soft spot on StarDew Valley and Terraria since they remind me of actual Retro games, hell even VA11-Hall-A
You have good taste!
@@ikeychain Of course! Those were the games, I did played them time to time.
A man of culture!
All of those are true classics indeed. Nowadays it's a game out lf a hundred that are that good. Heck, even masterpieces like In Stars and Time charged a movie ticket for their prototype. Which was still a great game, but very short
hey, a fellow VA11-Hall-a fan, good taste. now big question favorite character?
This is like the good old days. You buy it once and it's yours forever and there's no bs attached to it.
Stardew Valley has been a game that showed up for me when Harvest Moon wasn't really doing it for me anymore. I have put in thousands of hours into the game along with replayed it so many times too. It's a gem of its time. And what's better is CA will eventually release his new game that is based around chocolate-making with the same love and care as Stardew Valley. CA has grown to be one of my favorite indie devs.
This game continues to blow up steam charts, and a constant top seller on the e-Shop at the same time. Stardew Valley continues to shine on.
I have over 3000 hours in Stardew Valley and still can't get THAT ONE secret achivment. Who knows, knows. The history of making this game is amazing and full of hardships. I bought Stardew Valley cooking book and it's really great. Now I'm waiting for Haunted Chocolatier.
If you were ever thinking of getting the board game I don't recommend it, I played it once and it was not very good
@@TheBoardGamer It's got potential, but you need to homebrew it to have fun with it. The rules as they are written are not fun, but with some minor tweaks you can make it a lot better.
I have a feeling I know exactly which secret achievement you're talking about. I did manage to beat the game once, but beating it deathless is still very much beyond me.
@@hoodiesticks which is a huge problem for me because almost every board game I own is fun straight out of the box. It takes a lot of effort to make it fun which sucks, plus I saw prices of like $100 online. Which is far too much for a game that wants me to do the designers job for them. I just recommend anyone who's thinking of purchasing go to a local game store first and see if they have a copy you can play to try it out because it's not that good but if you're a diehard enough fan it could be worth it if you wanted to do tweaks like you said
@@TheBoardGamer That is a very fair point. I'm a bit more forgiving, because I played it with a Tabletop Simulator mod, but I get that people who invested a hundred dollars would be mad.
Stardew and terraria are the titans of what games should be, in my opinion.
Massive passion projects still supported with content even years later.
Hollow Knight is up there too. I think it's like $20 full price and it's so well made it's insane.
If you want one in the AAA space for comparison I would say No man sky as well.
To a lesser degree neon abyss as well, they gabe away the dlc for free for a month! God I love team 17. Oi team 17, I love you guys, you guys rock.
Corekeeper aswell! It’s coming to consoles with 1.0, august 27th it’s a very big update.
I would nominate Deadcell's second dev team. They really poured out so much love for the game that even though some content is paywalled its worth the buy. Its a proper shame the original IP owners forced developement of further content to cease all so their new title didnt have competition, and save face that it wasnt them still supporting the game after they made it. They are not considerate or thoughtful.
That man is such a darling of the industry its crazy. On top of that his game is great im really hoping haunted chocolatire (the new game) is just as good if not better than stardew! We really need that love in the industry
Why you trying to flex those bazooka's on us bro damn 😂
@@maxvegas5423 ❓
Wdym that's what every typical Asian uncles look like
😂😂
Uncle Rodger says: Fuuyaaaooo
@jigglynorris2559 has a crush on yong
This is the type of game I'll buy on every platform JUST BECAUSE I want to support it. And that's BECAUSE the game and the developer ACTUALLY DESERVES IT and then some.
This is what i keep talking about. Let the game print money long term rather than rush out the door to make fast money short term.
The Problem is incentive. The people who manage these things are CEOs who get replaced every now and then. They have no incentive for long term profit if it's the next guy's lunch. So they aim for short twrm gain and then have golden parachutes.
@@silverhawkscape2677 Sounds familiar. Oh right Bobby Kotick 🙄What a piece of shit guy. Enjoy the bonus while it last.
We need more ceos like Swen. He can be your gamer buddy one moment and/or your corporate boss the next and still make you feel like you're worth something at he company. It makes coming in to work worth it. You even feel happier. Can't say the same for Blizzard.
@@silverhawkscape2677 You just described the source of 99% of current issues. Be it business or politics , the guys at the top are temporary so care only about quick results (and when the problems need long term solutions , they usually are ignored with some kind of bs solution to look like its not )
The developer was heavily supported by his wife, who worked full time for years to let him actually do that. Not everyone has that option.
tbh considering Concerned Ape is mainly a solo dev, he probably has enough money to support himself and his children for a lifetime so he can make bold decisions like this without worry.
This is the way in which normal people relate to money. If I had $5 million, I'd probably never work for money ever again. I would work entirely on personal projects, or at a job I really, really enjoyed. I'd even take a pay cut for a more enjoyable job. When you have a large amount of wealth like that, more wealth ceases to be motivational. At least for regular people. It's one of the reasons why I have trouble accepting that corporate executives are human beings. Their lust for exorbitant amounts of money is utterly alien.
@@2020-p2zI’m sure many people felt exactly the same as you before they gotten rich. You’re under the impression that once you have these 5m dollars in the bank you’ll continue the exact same way of life you currently live, but just won’t have to worry about money anymore.
But that’s not what usually happens is it? More often than not people will start making purchases that fit their new wealth, requiring an additional injection to sustain it. Once you can suddenly afford things you could only dream of owning you might look at things differently.
@@2020-p2z If you had $5 million, and you never worked for money again, you'd not take all that many years to be back to normal levels of money and regular full time employment (especially if supporting a family).
What you Can do is be a lot more picky about what work you do, what compromises you'll make, and what compensation you'll accept for said work. You've got a lot more room to take (small, on the business scale, calculated) risks.
@@2020-p2z as an indie dev myself,
but all revenue of an AAA game don't go to just the executives but all the dev and workers. According to studies, 27 game executives make more than one million dollars per year (not per game) , but those games make anywhere from $100 million to even billions now. 1 million is 1/1000th of a billion. The rest of the money goes to shareholders and workers. As much as AAA game devs workers like programmers complain about the industry, many of them are paid $100K per game, so the workers have to eat, too.
Let's say Concerned Ape gets 50% of his game sales as profit, well, he's made more than 10 million dollars for sure just for himself and thus he can make any decisions what he wants. I guess my point is AAA games have to worry about giving hundreds of workers a salary, not just executives.
There is a reason I own Stardew Valley on everything I own that'll run it. And I'll buy every single game he makes in the future.
Honestly, he could release the exact same game with 16 bit graphics instead
call it Star2 Valley.
and I think half the playerbase would instantly buy it without thinking, just because of how awesome he's been
Thanks for showing Stardew Valley some much deserved love.
Mortal Kombat DLC is $60 dollars with half as much content as Stardew Valley. Hell, even compared to another AAA game, Elden Ring DLC was only $40 and was damn near the size of a whole new game. I just don't get greedy publishers overcharging for mediocre/underwhelming content (in reference to MK, ER DLC was PHENOMENAL)
Monster Hunter's been pretty good about it, too. World and Rise released at 60 bucks each, then their expansions sold for 40 bucks each AND knocked the base prices for the base games to 20 bucks, so people joining in after the expansions' release only pay like 60 bucks for the game AND the expansion.
@@LloydTheZephyrianthat, is a good way tp handle things
And there's only what, 5 new characters?? 2 of which probably have hefty licensing fees. Total bullshit.
@@LloydTheZephyrian That's a great example of how to release DLC AND increase the player base. It just seems like a win-win for the company and consumers.
@@itsoldtyde Exactly. $60 for a story expansion in a fighting game, with three new characters, and two returning.
In situations like this, i wish there was a way to provide extra support (usually in form of DLCs, going best faith) because the devs have earned that goodwill.
That said, i guess I could just buy another copy on a different platform.
Same. I don't have any other platform to buy it on, though.
Or make a new account on steam simply to buy a game on a new account hahaha. Rather than that though, might as well gift it to people you know and have them enjoy the game too (hopefully)
That's where you just start buying it for random people on your friends lists
pick up a dozen codes and spread it like a cold if you've the funds and desire
why not? good will towards gamers
As someone who has played Stardew Valley since its early days, & have it on both PC & console. This game is a true gem in a greed infested industry. Concerned Apes shows that you CAN make a good game, & not monetize it to hell & back. Good on the devs for keeping his game pure, & untouched by greed. Also, he make the API, known online as SMAPI, available to anyone who wants to mod, with no extra charge. And there is no end of mods for the game.
I'm still playing the game since day one, the dev knows what he is doing and listen to reddit sub for people opinions too, he also helped player personally when encounter errors. He really love his child.
When my partner bought me Stardew years ago I played the crap out of it and it was one of the most wholesome gaming experiences I've ever had. It's an adorable game with so, so much heart.
I'm glad Ape is concerned with his game and community. What a Chad.
A millionaire chad who swears to not ask for money he wouldn't even need. XD
Nice gunshow Yong! 😂 also i love Stardew Valley i will never get tired of playing it. It's amazing that Eric Barone did all of this by himself and I don't mind waiting for the DLC this man has really done a wonderful job plus he communicates with his fans on Twitter which I always respect about him( "I refuse to call it X")
Tekken 8 over here charging us skins that already exist in tekken 7 that were free. They even tried removing cool mod skins that modders created themselves
I love the old timey tone that tweet has, like something you'd hear in Medieval Europe or Asia.
"On the other of my name and family I will never charge for new content. If I break this vow, I accpet the great shame it shall come with."
He made it sounds like a knight or samurai.
Thank you for making a video that shines a little not at the drama and bad practices we constantly hear, but about a developer that does things right. It’s easy to overshadow the quality devs with all the terrible studios that abuse their customers.
Because of this, I'm actually considering about buying Stardew Valley.
Same
It's my experience that it just takes one dispassionate person to bring down an entire project. Less-so for grunts, moreso for management
At least indie devs are very passionate about their games, which is why I'm going into the indie dev scene since I'm pursuing game design & will be graduating college later this year
Congrats friend. Good luck in your development future.
Paying $10 or $15 for a large content DLC is not a problem. Like Elden Ring Shadow of the Erd tree for example at $40 has more than 60 hours of content easily.. Paying big price for massive amount of content. This is totally fine. But paying $10 for a skin? Or even more?? NOT okay. Shadow of the erd tree required probably tens of thousands of work hours. A skin might take 5 to 20 hours.. its not even in the same realm of amount of effort va returns. That is NOT okay.
So... proper expansion packs, the sort that used to warrent their own physical release before 'DLC' was a thing (... discounting some of the worst of the expansion packs for The Sims games, I guess). Cheaper to make (and cheaper for the customer) than a full on sequel, but usually either a sequel or spin off plot wise, where applicable, with big changes like entire extra factions, maps/areas, etc.
The only problem came when a game got Multiple of the things, as each one generally Required that you already have the previous one(s).
Elden Ring's DLC is $40 but you're right
@@laurencefraserI wouldn’t see that as a problem. It just means you’re paying for what the story (expansion) is worth. You are basically buying the sequel game (at a slightly reduced price).
See, contrary to that persons tweet about ‘ as long as it’s free everyone will be happy’
I’d actually be ok if he wanted to charge for an abnormally large dlc. The man’s been spoiling us since the game came out. Concernedape deserves every penny he gets.
Look at rimworld, phenomenal game that provides updates for free but ALSO has paid dlc that can completely change the way the game is played.
If stardew added a 10 dollar dlc with a little "this purchase funds more free updates, please enjoy" I don't think anyone would complain
Seriously. I gladly bought it on every system I own, even if I have no intention of playing it on each. He deserves the sales.
Until terraria devs start doing it with no additional cost I don't see why he would when he said he wouldn't
In fact the only reason he continues to develop the game despite many points trying to make his other game he always comes back same way relogic does to terraria
Passionate devs and a passionate community if he charged for dlc in his standard it would have to be something massive and huge but most of his time is spent trying to tweak and add things in retrospect
The mobile and console version are behind updates in comparison to the PC version if I'm correct so that's unfortunately where a lot of his time is spent, sometimes when you love something and continue to work on it you get inspired and it's an endless cycle
Its also why I mentioned terraria lmao those devs have continued to say every update is the final update until they just kept doing It
People are generally quite happy to pay for a full on oldstyle expansion pack level DLC.
Individual skins or the like, on the other hand, are a whole other matter.
@@laurencefraser indeed if its cosmetics and such they should be cheap, and honestly you better have the goodwill of the community before offering that.
But yeah in regards to your first statement, that was the case with the second dev team of Deadcells. They put out quality free content and occassionally a more considerable dlc with things that expand the game in more meaningful way was made available to purchase. But like you said, people liked the game, and this was a way not only to enjoy it further but continue to support it. Like the dev of Helldivers put it, you have to earn the right to further monitization (in what ever regards that may be)
Bought this on 3 separate platforns just for the initial features which were eons ahead of the competition in farm games but the updates just blow my mind. Just the seamless coop mods where you can have a friend just go and join you on your farm either online or locally at any tine, it just blows my mind.
It is really nice to get this kind of positivity now and again. In a sea of bad, you have to come up for air now and again.
It's as simple as this: Some people have integrity, and others don't.
WE LOVE STARDEW VALLEY🗣️🔥🗣️🔥🗣️🔥
Stardew also does inclusion in a way that's not in your face. It's not advertised or anything, it's just there and no one complains about it. Awesome game done awesomely. I've bought this on every platform I have and will continue to do so.
Yong feeling good about himself. Love it
Stardew Valley: Choosing to follow in Terarrias footsteps.
You mean minecraft 😂
Financially Stardew Valley has sold multiple tens of millions so they're in a position to do this. Other indies still need DLC and additional support just to keep the lights on.
I don’t think anyone is trying to deny that. The point is CA COULD do it but won’t. It’s admirable even if we acknowledge that he’s still making money hand over fist 15 bucks at a time.
Yeah that was acknowledged in the video! Even CA specifically does not shame other devs who do it. It's all circumstantial.
CA put in the time and effort to make the game fun, smooth, and fulfilling. It is no surprise the game has sold so exceptionally well. He kept his vision with no corporate influence.
Also free updates bring back content creators to the game which leads to new copies being sold. So it actually could be an ok business strategy, especially when he has made a lot of money already.
edit: This was not to dismiss the fact that not everyone can become a multi millionaire by making a game, was the game good or not.
Damn Yong, I'm in Europe, you cannot just flash those guns around here jesus.
wearing tank top in summer is normal here in asia during blazing hot summer bro
is 2d/Retro games better than 3d games so called AAA games interest and Indie never interest make 3d game?
Bro I'm in Spain. Tank Tops are the norm here.
Rights to bare arms bros 🐻 💪
At least two down here didn't get it. -_-
Stardew Valley is my gaming therapy. It's such a cozy and relaxing game with elements that are unique yet also simultaneously feel nostalgic and bittersweet. I'll forever be in love with this game.
you said it so well! completely agree!
Makes me feel like I miss a better time, but its really just yearning for this simple life and peace we've wanted
Cult Of The Lamb devs and Hollow Knight devs also do this, absolute goats
No joke intended
Video starts at 4:31
I keep coming back and back to SDV. It's just sweet little game with a decent bloke at its helm (also props to his partner, who saw he was struggling to get any sleep and convinced him to quit his job so he could work on it full time and financially supported the household until he was able to make money from the project).
For me and it's something I realised fairly recently is that I don't mind paid dlc, I mind over inflated dlc prices. I've always never really purchased dlc but I started recently playing payday 2 with my friends and seeing how cheap and affordable the dlcs and packs were made me actually but a few because it's just affordable. I didn't feel guilt nor felt like it was regrettable purchase I was just happy and satisfied and because it was a great price I bought more than one
No one complains about paying for a properly made Expansion pack, after all. You'll get some debate about the suitability of the price, but not over whether it should be paid for, unless it's so bad that the debate is actually over whether it should have even been Released.
Stardew Valley is my favorite video game. I've bought it 4 times (PS4, Switch, Steam, and Android). I am happy to pay for a game multiple times that I love this much. Especially when that money goes to support someone like Concerned Ape, who has absolutely earned it with the hard work he's put into the game.
I released indie SRPG Telepath Tactics back in 2015, put out 6 months of free updates, then completely remade the game from the ground up in a new engine--Telepath Tactics Liberated--and gave it to owners of the original game for free. It's now been more than two years of free updates to Telepath Tactics Liberated.
This is just how some of us roll. 🙂
Now THAT'S a cause for applause. 👏👏👏
The only game that giving out full support no payment DLC after launch is No man sky and Stardew Valley from the top of my head.
Project Zomboid and Valheim. Grab those too!
Deep Rock Galactic 👑
Minecraft, with some exceptions like on console or whatever. But plenty more games, probably. I mean, there's stuff like 'Don't Starve' that keeps putting out stuff for free, alongside some paid stuff I believe. It's not really unlike 'Stardew Valley' in terms of the studio, though they're with more people and have more projects. - Or maybe Free Lives with stuff like 'Broforce'.
The Paralives devs have put this as part of their project plan when the game goes into Early Access next year, but we'll see how well the promise holds up once they finish. Hopefully if it's true, it'll potentially force EA to at least lower the costs of their Sims DLCs if a successful competitor shows up with this sort of business model.
@@dorkydragon5055 DRG has paid dlc lol.
AAA developers and publishers were never around for what actual live service games are. Games like Terraria, Factorio, consistent updates, free additional content huge overhauls.
Nah, an Actual live service is oldschool subscription based MMOs: You're actually paying for an Actual Service (running and maintaining the servers, and the code actually supporting the game, which was often arcane and running on weird dedicated custom hardware because there was no off the shelf solution for such things yet) that is Always Live (except for brief maintenance periods and the occasional disaster/major update).
The better ones managed to fund constant content updates from the subscription fees, too. (Seriously, look into the history of City of Heroes at some point... it's wild.)
Seeing that tweet makes me want to ship my money to ConcernedApe in pallets. I cannot express how much pro-consumer practices and just not being obscenely greedy makes me want to give a company money.
Any company that has “investors” is NEVER going to have the players’ best interest at heart.
Their FIRST priority is to their shareholders and investors. If a good game comes out of that, then that’s a bonus.
Also, the Terraria devs going on almost 15 years with no additional cost while still producing updates. Indie devs who love their game are so amazing.
This is why indie games are going to lead us out of the next gaming industry crash the same way Japanese games led us out of the first one.
I think Japanese games might also have a role digging the industry out of the hole they are in.
At the moment, almost all good games are indie, Asian and from some European countries but not other.
To be more specific do I think Nintendo's next machine will basically gank Sony and Microsoft pretty hard, both of them seems to have totally lost it.
Indie companies are however the seeds for when the AAA companies in the west go down and I think a lot of them are going down now. They are both greedy and have lost the connection with the gamers who are supposed to buy and enjoy their games which is why we are seeing so massive layoffs.
Indie games like Stardew valley and Rimworld are just fun to play so even if they are a few years old, they are still hitting high on steam. Meanwhile Sony's Concord's open beta failed to even get 2500 players when it was free and it will cost $40 + micro transactions to buy, Flintlock got 650 players at best on Steam, Sushi squad peaked at 13 500 and so on. There is almost no AAA games to look forward to at all, they mostly seems like cynical cashgrabs from marketing weasels who never would game themselves.
So yeah, indie games + Nintendo got us out of the old E.T game crash, and I wouldn't be the least surprised if it is what get us out of this one too.
Still, last time it lead to the gigantic publishers we have today, EA and Activision made small games around the time of the first crash and investors got involved and eventually turned them into the giants that are the problem today while Atari really never recovered.
No maximizing earnings aggresively does (not) affect retention, reach and purchases.
Rather ironic that not piecemealing everything for exuberant costs leads to people aggressively buying and supporting.
Stardew valley and Terraria are my top two games in rotation. ❤
This is why I bought the game on 5 separate systems. Stardew is amazing and should be the norm and supported.
Bought this for Xbox years ago, played the hell out of it. Recently grabbed it for Switch and cannot wait to play it again.
Stardew Valley is a game that is very close to my heart. The amount of effort and passion put into the game is obvious and Concerned Ape's approach is a large part of why I have come back to it on and off since I first bought it.
The insane that started valleys has been in the top 30 of switch digital games sense it came out!
This is why I love indie gaming.
I never liked the idea of paying money for extra characters or an expansion. I like this dev 🎉
Praise ConcernedApe for he does what AAA won't.
Additional shout out to Powerwash Simulator devs, Future Labs, for being an amazing example of how games can do both paid and free DLC right! Regular free maps keep coming out, the last one a couple weeks ago, and when they are paid they are reasonably priced at about $7 (USD) and always 5 big maps and a lot of fun and on theme writing!
You just can't compete with this game. It's impossible. Yesterday I completed a bundle and then ran around the community center for five minutes to watch the little Junimo do a little jump and start following me whenever I approached it. There is just so much love and care in this game, it's impossible to compete.
It's a good and deep enough Game, unlike many "AAA" games
I just bought it on PS5, gave a 5 star review right off the bat, saw the average rating go from 4.79 to 4.8. That's how ya do it~
Not to mention the 1.6 Update adds Massive Multiplayer
Dang, never thought I'd get a gun show watching YongYea. Bros got 2 co hosts, Des and Troy.
Another game I would recommend in this vein is Slime Rancher and its sequel. The _only_ DLC outside the soundtrack was a completely optional skin pack. Every expansion they've done has been completely free, the only downside is that they're slow at updating.
EA left the chat.
Ubisoft was kicked for bullshit.
Blizzard didn't care 'bout the memo.
Slightly off-topic but the talk of indie dev integrity reminded me of one large reason why I hated Epic Games Store's approach of throwing money around to secure artificial exclusives: it made many small devs compromise their integrity.
The situation was frequently that a crowdfunded game - usually including certain promises regarding platform and store availability - caught the attention of Epic, they waved their mountains of cash around, and the devs agreed to becoming EGS exclusive.
Backers who supported the project based on the availability promises were sometimes refunded if they raised enough of a stink but the fact remains that the project gained clout based on promises the devs later knowingly broke, and without this clout EGS may not have approached them in the first place.
It's difficult to begrudge a small company in a financially shaky situation accepting such an insanely (and as it turned out to no one's surprise, unsustainably) beneficial deal, esp. if it means securing the livelihoods of a team's worth of people for the foreseeable future, but that doesn't change the fact that these devs broke promises and quite literally sold out their integrity.
My Respect toward ConcernedApes has grown even stronger. 💪
I got Stardew Valley as a gift from my husband at launch and I spent soooo much time on it. I would play till 5 am sometimes becuase I loved this game. I don't play to much anymore but it's still installed and waiting for me to come back. The chucklfish devs are built different and I love them for it.
Tbh, Chucklefish is just the publisher for Stardew Valley, because they're not good devs, hell, just look at Starbound, they completely abandoned it.
@@nattythepanda4692 which is a shame, because i love that game....
@@nattythepanda4692 Chucklefish doesn't even publish it anymore anyways. Concerned Ape took back full reins a long while ago.
Take just about everything said in this video but change the game to no man's sky and you pretty much have the same thing too. That indie developer did amazing stuff too and they even recently updated the graphics And system overhaul which is almost AAA level stuff. It also has dozens of big updates and none of it was paid it was all free DLC
Not to take away from stardew valley achievements but it is awesome that these indie developers have been knocking it out of the park
Stardew Valley no doubt is the best farming game ever to be landed not just on Steam but to the other consoles as well.
It went from 96 k peak players to 236k players since the 1.6 update drop very nice
Yong YYYYEEEEAH💪
Same story with Terraria. That game will outlive all of us and just keep getting bigger and more popular.
Could you schedule an interview with Eric and Amber. I realize this isn't your style. But I feel like so many people relate with their story and there's still so much to tell. It doesn't have to be all about just the game, but also their background/values... and stories about their experience before and after its release. It's just so genuinely interesting to see their success and I wouldn't be surprised if they make a movie.
Tf would the movie be about... Someone sitting behind their computer?...
@@michaelmonstar4276 There's a lot of material in there that involves personal discoverey and the general human experience. The movie would be likely a couple stages: 1st his early experience with his dad (engineer) /mom (musician).... then his life going through comp sci and ending up working minimum wage... meeting his gf... learning more about their relationship (not a lot of people would date someone who spends 5 years making video games, or even pay their rent) then progressing into his idea to make a video game... the conflict would be him constanly pushing the deadline and devloping guilt or getting doubted by a lot of people, aside of his close family, interjected with moments of humanity such as him learning to draw and improving his music theory, balancing work vs relationships, and then him having to reconcile between giving up or not. Then the actual climax is releasing the game. Basically the idea is to make a movie about something we can all relate to... having big ideas but never following through and what that actually means when you do.
I feel so spoiled for having Stardew Valley. The next game he shells out I’m gonna get it. Don’t matter if I might not like it (which I am almost positive I will). I’ll just support the dude.
THIS is the kind of practice one should encourage with their wallet/money. Buy it everywhere you can. PC, mac, steamDeck, even your mobile!
Though, he's making these promises while having hundreds of millions in the bank himself. He wouldn't be saying it if he still had to make a living.
FeelsStrongMan I remember when stardew valley came out 8 years ago
Terraria is also a good example of indies just absolutely flexing on AAA
I have Stardew Valley on both PC and PlayStation and have sunk thousands of hours into it. What a great game.
"peaked back in 2024" Damn, how long have i been asleep!? 😂
Respect to indie Devs And Stardew Valley Dev 💚🫡