It’s official: after many lifetimes of eagerly refreshing our Steam clients, the launch of the 1.6 update for Stardew Valley is getting ready to arrive.
The long-awaited and much-anticipated update is set to add all sorts of new and exciting things to the game, like a new farm, dialogue options and even new festivals.
One thing it won’t do, though, is eat up your previous save games like a juicy little parsnip.
When a fan asked what the best way would be to experience 1.6, ConcernedApe, the developer, stated that while he would recommend starting fresh to be able to see all the changes in context, continuing an old save won’t lock you out of the new content.
However, panic is sure to follow whenever the words save and file are mentioned online, and this time, it was no different.
Many Stardew Valley players were worrying about whether 1.6 would force them to begin again and delete their previous saves, causing ConcernedApe to head back to X to put out some fires that shouldn’t even be there.
No, the update doesn’t wipe anything, all your save files will be fully intact. – ConcernedApe
So basically, the choice is yours. If you want to start fresh and discover everything 1.6 offers, you can, and it’s even recommended.
But if you have a bond with the farm you’ve already poured your love, sweat and tears into, you can continue on that save as well.