How to access the Stardew Valley multiplayer beta on Steam

Stardew Valley multiplayer

The long awaited Stardew Valley multiplayer patch is coming soon, but before then you can now access the beta version. Well, if you're on PC anyway. The beta gets you access to the Stardew Valley 1.3 update on Steam, which features new items, events and cutscenes from Stardew creator ConcernedApe, as well as the multiplayer co-op mode developed by publisher Chucklefish. 

The multiplayer allows you to invite one to three players to come over to your farm as farmhands via Steam or LAN, either starting a new game or just from your latest single-player save. Each player lives in their own cabin on the host farm, and all of you can work together to achieve various goals, all of which will be very familiar to existing Stardew players. You can also scale the profit margin of your produce sold to adjust the difficulty level of a multiplayer farm, if you so wish. 

Oh and did we mention you can communicate using nearly 200 custom Stardew Valley emojis? YES SIR. 

So without any further ado, here's how to access the Stardew Valley multiplayer PC beta.

How to access the Stardew Valley multiplayer PC beta

  • Log into your Steam account
  • In your Games Library, right click on Stardew Valley
  • Select Properties → Betas (see: https://imgur.com/a/H1gH4)
  • Enter the Beta access code “jumpingjunimos” and press Check Code
  • After this, select the beta branch option on the Beta selection drop down list above

It's worth noting that publisher Chucklefish recommend backing up your save before you opt into the beta. You wouldn't want to lose any of your hundreds of hours of farming, after all. 

To do this, go to %APPDATA%\StardewValley\Saves on Windows, or ~/.config/StardewValley/Saves on Mac and Linux and simply make a copy before you start trialling the Stardew Valley multiplayer. 

It's also recommended to remove any mods you may have on your Stardew Valley game for the time being too, just so you get the best beta experience possible. 

CATEGORIES
Sam Loveridge
Brand Director, 12DOVE

Sam Loveridge is the Brand Director and former Global Editor-in-Chief of GamesRadar. She joined the team in August 2017. Sam came to GamesRadar after working at TrustedReviews, Digital Spy, and Fandom, following the completion of an MA in Journalism. In her time, she's also had appearances on The Guardian, BBC, and more. Her experience has seen her cover console and PC games, along with gaming hardware, for a decade, and for GamesRadar, she's in charge of the site's overall direction, managing the team, and making sure it's the best it can be. Her gaming passions lie with weird simulation games, big open-world RPGs, and beautifully crafted indies. She plays across all platforms, and specializes in titles like Pokemon, Assassin's Creed, The Sims, and more. Basically, she loves all games that aren't sports or fighting titles! In her spare time, Sam likes to live like Stardew Valley by cooking and baking, growing vegetables, and enjoying life in the countryside.

Latest in Simulation
Stardew Valley Baldur's Gate 3 mod Baldur's Village
Baldur's Gate 3 director Swen Vincke gives his official approval to the Stardew Valley mod that brings the D&D RPG to Pelican Town
Boro and Alta sit on a bench together in Wanderstop
Wanderstop review: "Exalting the transformative power of tea"
InZOI screenshot
The Sims rival InZoi has 300 people hanging out in each of its in-game cities and they all "interact with each other in real-time"
InZOI screenshot from creation studio demo which depicts a shockingly realistic character model rendered in Unreal Engine 5
The director behind The Sims competitor InZOI spent 20 years making MMOs, but he ditched the massive RPGs after playing life sims with his son
Demon Slayer season 4 episode 2
True to the anime, Stardew Valley's hottest mod adds two romanceable Demon Slayer dudes who are both "rude and standoffish" at first
Paralives
The Sims 4's colorful competitor Paralives is bringing one of my favorite features from The Sims 3 back – the ability to customize literally everything
Latest in News
Monster Hunter Wilds trailer screenshot showing a young woman with long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail smiling slightly, pumping her left fist in the air
Monster Hunter Wilds' Gemma actor requests "tips for beginners" from fans of Capcom's action RPG as it's the "first MH game that I've ever played"
Doom: The Dark Ages screenshot
Doom director claims The Dark Ages can be beaten without using a gun, but "the game's not necessarily built to do that"
Giancarlo Esposito in The Electric State
The Electric State may be the Russo brothers' most challenging VFX project yet, but stars Stanley Tucci and Giancarlo Esposito say it's one of the easiest films they’ve ever done
The Last of Us season 2 trailer shows spores
The Last of Us season 2 is bringing in one of the biggest game omissions from season 1 – and the showrunners say it's for a "good reason"
Daredevil: Born Again
Vincent D'Onofrio responds to a fan who thinks Daredevil: Born Again has "ruined" Kingpin: "Thanks for the support dumbass"
Players in GTA Online running businesses and playing missions
GTA publisher is suing a GTA Online website that lets you buy hacked accounts, which "risks upending the GTA 5 player experience"