Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone, known publicly as ConcernedApe, has addressed player concerns following the surprise release of the game’s Nintendo Switch 2 edition, confirming that multiple issues are affecting the new version and that a fix is currently in development. The response came shortly after players began reporting severe bugs and multiplayer problems across social platforms, particularly Reddit.
In a public statement, Barone took responsibility for the situation, stating, “I am aware that there are some issues with the nintendo switch 2 edition that just dropped. I take full responsibility for this mistake. We will fix this as soon as possible.” The message was posted shortly after the Switch 2 version became available, which launched quietly without prior announcement and offered a free upgrade for existing Nintendo Switch owners. New players can purchase the Switch 2 version for $14.99.
Among the reported problems, the most critical issue involves crafting recipes that require moss. According to user reports, attempting to craft with moss results in the unintended consumption of numerous unrelated inventory items. These include basic materials such as torches and algae, progression-related items like geodes and artifact troves, rare collectibles including golden pumpkins and pearls, as well as totems, furniture, decorations, and even dinosaur eggs. Due to the severity of this bug, players are advised to avoid crafting with moss until a patch is released.
Multiplayer functionality is also significantly impacted. Online co-op is currently broken for many users, with players unable to load cooperative saves or join existing games due to error messages. While split-screen co-op remains functional, online play issues have forced players to rely on a workaround using the Game Share feature, accessed through specific in-game and system menu steps. There are also reports of controls becoming locked in mouse mode during split-screen sessions, preventing normal Joy-Con input for Player 1.
Additional confusion surrounds the Switch 2 upgrade pack, which is required to enable mouse controls and four player local split-screen. This upgrade is separate from the in-game update and is reportedly unavailable on the European eShop at the time of writing. Mouse functionality further requires manual activation through system settings, and some players report inconsistent behavior when switching control modes.
Compatibility between Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 versions remains unclear, with reports suggesting that the update may have negatively affected cross-version co-op. While some existing farms appear unaffected, overall multiplayer stability has been described as unreliable.
Despite these issues, the Switch 2 edition introduces new features such as mouse controls, expanded local and online multiplayer support, and Game Share functionality. File sizes have increased modestly, with the original Switch version at 1.6 GB and the Switch 2 version at 2.3 GB. Barone has not provided a specific timeline, but has assured players that fixes are coming soon.
