"Stardew Valley's" big 1.7 update will add two new marriage candidates as creator Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone celebrates the farming sim's 10th anniversary and reflects on how the game has shaped his life and career.
Barone has confirmed that update 1.7 will finally let players marry blacksmith Clint and desert shopkeeper Sandy, turning two long‑requested NPCs into full romance options. Fans have been asking for more villagers to become spouses for years, and Barone saved the reveal of Clint and Sandy for the end of a special anniversary video, where chat erupted as he opened an envelope showing their new marriage status.
The 1.7 patch will also introduce at least one new farm layout, expanding the ways players can design their homestead, according to Kotaku. Barone has teased that the update will focus on more character‑driven and "social" content, and has hinted it will include improvements to in‑game children so they feel more active and meaningful in the valley.
The marriage news arrived as "Stardew Valley" hit its 10‑year launch anniversary on February 26, 2026. In a blog post and a retrospective video, Barone noted that while players have had the game for a decade, he has been working on it for almost 15 years, describing the experience as a "blur" that covers most of his adult life.
Barone said he started "Stardew Valley" as a solo project, handling all art, music, coding, and writing, but now works with a larger team to support updates and the business side of the game, IGN reported. He compared the game to a child that has grown up and "left the house," arguing that "Stardew Valley" now belongs as much to the community and modders as it does to him and his team.
Barone has admitted that he has often thought each major patch might be the last, yet new updates keep coming as players continue to engage with the game. He has floated ideas such as a future "Stardew Valley 2" or a "Stardew Classic" version if interest in the original ever slows, but for now he plans to build on existing systems rather than overhaul them.
For many fans, the chance to romance Clint and Sandy in update 1.7 is a sign that the game still has new stories to tell, even a decade after players first stepped off the bus into Pelican Town, as per The Gamer.
Originally published on Tech Times
