Stardew Valley is getting a massive update that adds a new spouse event

(Image credit: Concerned Ape)

A new 1.4 patch is coming to Stardew Valley on PC on November 26, with current plans to release the free update on consoles and mobile a few weeks after. 

The upcoming patch will add some pretty exciting new content to the delightful pixelated farming sim, including new heart events with your spouse, and a new screenshot button in the options menu that lets you take a screenshot of your entire farm (or any other area).

The spouse event comes in the shape of a unique heart event for each character that's triggered when you gain 14 hearts after marriage. The post features an adorable image of a candlelit dinner with Harvey, so we can only just imagine what other moments we'll get to share with the other available spouses in Pelican Town. 

The patch is also set to add some more endgame content to keep players going after they've completed everything available in the game so far. To avoid spoiling anything, Concerned Ape didn't give away any details as to what the "end-game stuff" will see you doing, so we'll just have to dive into the game to find out for ourselves.  

Creator Eric Barone wrote in the update post that, "content-wise, nearly every aspect of the game has been expanded or improved upon in some way." The patch will add some quality of life bug fixes and several minor improvements to iron out any weak spots. "I wanted to fix all of the bugs that have been lingering in the game" Barone writes, "to fix a lot of weird or annoying things about the controls and feel of the game, and add in a lot of "quality of life" features that will make the game more seamless to play." 

The 1.4 patch is said to be in its final stages. While the plan is still set for the patch to come to console and mobile a few weeks after PC, Barone hopes to announce a solid release date once there's been a little more testing on these platforms. Xbox One and PS4 just recently got the 1.3 update which added multiplayer functionality to the console versions, and the 1.4 patch is set to improve the game's performance on consoles once it's live. 

Finally, Barone ended the post with the news that the 1.4 update is the first patch the creator has worked on with a small team rather than taking it on solo. Barone wrote that having some help with the programming and technical side of things will be good for Stardew Valley and said, "it means that there will be a lot more in each update than I could do alone." 

Previous free updates have added a wealth of new features and extra helpings of magic to Stardew Valley, and it looks like Concerned Ape isn't slowing down anytime soon. 

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Heather Wald
Senior staff writer

I started out writing for the games section of a student-run website as an undergrad, and continued to write about games in my free time during retail and temp jobs for a number of years. Eventually, I earned an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University, and soon after got my first official role in the industry as a content editor for Stuff magazine. After writing about all things tech and games-related, I then did a brief stint as a freelancer before I landed my role as a staff writer here at 12DOVE. Now I get to write features, previews, and reviews, and when I'm not doing that, you can usually find me lost in any one of the Dragon Age or Mass Effect games, tucking into another delightful indie, or drinking far too much tea for my own good.