Stardew Valley's next update will let your friends farm in split-screen
No peeking at my screen!
Somehow, there is still more work to be done on Stardew Valley before Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone is finished farming. Update 1.5 has been ticking along for some time, and now it appears the next big pastoral patch will add split-screen farming for up to four players. While Stardew's had co-op for some time now, you'll soon be able to make sure none of your fellow farmhands are fiddling with the crops while you're not looking.
Barone teased out the new feature in a Tweet today - and as PCGamesN points out, there's more than just co-op on show in the carefully-chosen screenshot.
Following up in the replies, Barone notes that while all platforms will get split-screen co-op, only PC will let you bring up to three more players in. That's not all, though. Responses from perceptive fans have found a number of new features buried inside Barone's post. Desert farms are the obvious one, for starters, but fans have spotted new chests, decorations, and the handy ability to pop torches on top of fenceposts.
Update 1.5 has been in the works for some time now, following Stardew's massive 1.4 patch at the end of 2019. While the overall shape of the next drop remains elusive, we do know it'll add a "significant new piece of AI content" along with community-voted Banana trees to the lovely farm 'em up.
After that, though? While we don't know whether it'll be a new update or a new game entirely, it doesn't sound like Barone is done with Stardew Valley. "I would not be surprised if there’s another Stardew Valley update, or multiple updates, or a Stardew Valley 2," Barone told Game Informer back in September. "Who knows?”