Eric Barone (developer)

Eric Barone, also known by his alias ConcernedApe, is an American video game developer, designer, artist, composer, and musician. He is best known for independently creating the video game Stardew Valley.[2]

Eric Barone
Born (1987-12-03) December 3, 1987[1]
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other namesConcernedApe
Alma materUniversity of Washington Tacoma
Occupations
  • Video game developer
  • video game designer
  • artist
  • composer
  • musician
Known forStardew Valley

Raised in Auburn, Washington, Barone graduated from the University of Washington Tacoma in 2011 with a degree in computer science. Unable to find a job, he initially began developing Stardew Valley in 2012 to increase his employability. Barone worked on the game daily as its sole creator until its release in 2016.

In 2020, Barone announced he was working on several new games. One of these games is Haunted Chocolatier, which, as of 2023, has no set release date.

Early life and education

Barone was born in Los Angeles and spent his childhood in Auburn, Washington, a suburb in the Seattle metropolitan area.[3] He cites the Harvest Moon series as his childhood favorite that stayed with him into adulthood.[2] He attended the University of Washington Tacoma and graduated in 2011 with a degree in computer science.[2] Barone had practiced basic programming but did not consider making video games as a career. Unable to find employment after graduating college, he initially began developing Stardew Valley in order to practice programming in C#, and planned to put the game on his resume for potential employers.[4]

Career

Stardew Valley
Further information: Stardew Valley § Development

Barone began working on Stardew Valley in 2012 and released it in 2016. He was praised for creating the game independently,[5] as its sole designer, programmer, animator, artist, composer, and writer. To complete the game, Barone worked 10 hours a day, seven days a week,[6] for four and a half years. For part of that time, he lived with his parents to save money before moving out with his girlfriend to Capitol Hill, Seattle.[7] During this time, his girlfriend Amber Hageman worked two jobs to support the both of them while Barone worked a part-time job as an evening usher at the Paramount Theatre.[3][7][8]

Barone initially released Stardew on the PC before later developing it for other consoles. By March 2022, he had sold over 20 million copies.

In 2017, he was named by Forbes magazine in their list "30 Under 30: Games" due to his work on Stardew Valley.[9] Since 2019, Barone has been assisted on Stardew Valley by another designer.[10]

Other projects

In 2014, Barone took a month long break during the development of Stardew Valley. During this break, Barone used his time to piece together a small mobile game to release on Android. The game was titled Air Pear and was released on March 6th, 2014. In the game, players would need to guide a purple pear on a skateboard between obstacles and compete for a high score. The main character of the game is seen in both Stardew Valley during "The Festival of Ice" event and during a trailer for the new game Haunted Chocolatier.

In 2020, Barone announced that he was working on several new games, with one of them set in the Stardew Valley universe.[11] In February 2021, Barone and board game designer Cole Medeiros released a cooperative board game adaptation of Stardew Valley.[12] After the first printing of the game went on sale, it quickly sold out. Sales were later reopened with several changes.[13]

In October 2021, Barone announced that a new game titled Haunted Chocolatier was in development, with no set release date.[14] In the game, the player will run a chocolate shop. It will have a greater focus on combat than in Stardew Valley. Barone stated that "almost everything in Haunted Chocolatier, including the combat, is completely coded (and drawn) from scratch."[15]

Barone collaborated with Norihiko Hibino on an album series Prescription for Sleep. The series remixes video game soundtracks with piano and saxophone. The Stardew Valley album was released in May 2021. It includes 10 tracks from the game's original soundtrack and one new track called "Beauty in the Seasons".[16]

In 2022, Barone collaborated on an animated music video with indie pop band Alvvays for the band's song Many Mirrors. Barone is responsible for the video's animation and it was his first time working with 3D animation.[17]

References
  1. @ConcernedApe on Reddit (November 2020). "My birthday is December 3". Reddit. Archived from the original on May 23, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  2. White, Sam (March 20, 2018). "'Stardew Valley' Creator Eric Barone on the Game's Lonely Origins and His Secretive Next Game". GQ. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  3. White, Sam (March 20, 2018). "Valley Forged: How One Man Made the Indie Video Game Sensation Stardew Valley". GQ. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
  4. Grodt, Jil l (January 17, 2022). "Aftermath Of Success: Stardew Valley, Darkest Dungeon, And Valheim". GameInformer. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
  5. Baker, Chris (March 9, 2016). "The 4 years of self-imposed crunch that went into Stardew Valley". www.gamasutra.com. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  6. "The 4 years of self-imposed crunch that went into Stardew Valley". March 9, 2016.
  7. Schreier, Jason (2017). Blood, sweat, and pixels : the triumphant, turbulent stories behind how video games are made. New York : HarperCollins Publishers. pp. 81–85. ISBN 978-0-06-265123-5 – via Internet Archive.
  8. Meny, Ellen (April 15, 2020). "Auburn native develops beloved, bestselling video game". KING 5 News. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
  9. "30 Under 30 2017: Games". Forbes. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
  10. Olson, Mathew (October 8, 2019). "Stardew Valley's Creator on Self-Publishing, the "Everything" Update, and His Future as a Solo Developer". USgamer. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  11. Chalk, Andy (February 11, 2020). "Stardew Valley creator is working on two new games". PC Gamer. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  12. Campbell, Ian Carlos (February 23, 2021). "Stardew Valley is now a cooperative board game". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  13. Sheridan, Connor (November 3, 2021). "Stardew Valley board game back on sale with revised cards and rules". GamesRadar+. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
  14. Machkovech, Sam (October 21, 2021). "Stardew Valley's creator announces pixel-art followup Haunted Chocolatier". www.arstechnica.com. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  15. Bolding, Jonathan (October 31, 2021). "Here's a bit about Haunted Chocolatier's combat". PC Gamer. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  16. Makuch, Eddie (April 29, 2021). "Stardew Valley's Music Gets Lovely Lullaby Remix In Prescription For Sleep Album". GameSpot. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  17. McClure, Deven (December 15, 2022). "ConcernedApe Interview: Eric Barone Talks Alvvays, Haunted Chocolatier". Screen Rant. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
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