‘Stardew Valley’ Multiplayer Detailed, Dated For 2018 With Player Marriages A Possibility

Maintaining a farm, chatting with locals, and discovering what the region has to offer is a single-player experience in Stardew Valley right now. When the farming and life simulator released in 2016, thousands of players took over their grandfather’s farm working to make it profitable while benefiting Pelican Town at the same time.

At launch, fans of Stardew Valley knew the game’s sole developer, Concerned Ape, wanted a multiplayer component added to the game at some point. Chucklefish, the publisher of the game, is still working to add a co-op experience to the farming game. The multiplayer update will release as the 1.3 update to Stardew Valley, and players can expect it in 2018, according to the game’s official site.

Up to four players can enjoy Stardew Valley simultaneously after the update. A player can ask Robin to build farmhand cabins on their land to accommodate other players. When aiding another player on their farm, a guest is known as a farmhand with the ability to do many of the same things as the host player. Farmhands can work the land, speak with NPCs, fish, or even marry. Each character has their own inventory, and the host player can manage farmhand inventory when they are not online.

Players might even be able to marry each other. Right now, Chucklefish is working on implementing player-to-player marriages. It is confirmed that if it does appear in the update, it will not utilize the mermaid pendant that is typically required to marry an NPC in the game. Players will be expected to court each other in some way, though, before the characters can get married.

Multiplayer beta testing will begin later this year with Steam players. Stardew Valley players will not be required to run a server, though. PC players will connect through Steam while those on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch will be similar. In fact, multiplayer will likely be available on the Switch first before rolling out to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

As the Inquisitr reported, Stardew Valley released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in December 2016 but has yet to release on the Switch. Beta testing will start before the year ends with the 1.3 PC multiplayer update scheduled to release in early 2018. Local multiplayer including split-screen is not planned for Stardew Valley at this time.

[Image by Concerned Ape]