Eric Barone, the one-man development team behind Stardew Valley, is standing behind his decision to enter into a controversial collaboration effort with action-adventure game Infinity Nikki. Stardew Valley's long history of player-driven free updates has helped make Barone one of the most popular indie developers in the world, and fans' negative reaction to the recently announced collaboration marks a rare moment of negative press for him.
Stardew Valley's success story is one that few other independent game developers could ever dream of replicating. Originally developed by Barone as a recreational side project, the farming and life simulator has reportedly sold more than 41 million copies since its original PC launch in 2016, and its popularity has led Barone into full-time game development, as he is currently working on his second big game, Haunted Chocolatier.
But the farming game has found itself embroiled in controversy after fans expressed displeasure with a collaboration between Stardew Valley and Infinity Nikki, which many players of the latter game see as a distraction from problems that have been present since late April. These issues include heavy monetization of the free-to-play game's gacha system, story retconning, and performance issues, and they have...
