Eric Barone says he doesn't get paid for Stardew Valley collabs, and that's the way he likes it: 'I wouldn't want to make money from a collaboration'

We learned earlier today that Stardew Valley and Infinity Nikki are teaming up for a collaboration of some sort that's set to land on September 1—a crossover that PC Gamer's Infinity Nikki superfan Mollie Taylor as "surprising," because "Stardew Valley doesn't do this sort of thing very often."

A little while later, Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone took to X to say that while such crossovers are a relative rarity, it's something he likes to do now and then—but not for the money.

"There have been a few collaborations between Stardew Valley and other games over the years," Barone wrote. "To be clear, I never receive any money from these collabs. I've only done them because I was a fan of the other games, or because I genuinely thought the players would like it."

Barone also said that all his past collaborations, like the addition of Stardew Valley card backs to Balatro in 2024, have been one-way affairs, with a single exception: The "legendary indie game" Terraria, which—as Mollie noted—hooked up with Stardew Valley for a collaboration in 2022.

"It was great," Barone said in reply to one of his followers. "I love Terraria."

Responding to others who said he should take the collab cashola and not feel bad about it, Barone said bluntly that he's "made enough from sales of [Stardew Valley]," and isn't after more: "I wouldn't want to make money from a collaboration."

Under just about any other circumstances, I would be screaming—psychically, at least—I don't buy it from the bottom of my cold, cynical heart. But nobody does wholesome quite like Eric Barone, and if he says he doesn't want any more money, well, okay. (And with Stardew Valley now standing at north of 35 million copies sold, I will also buy that Barone doesn't really need any bonus collab cash.)

And yes, Barone also gave a nod to his next game, Haunted Chocolatier, which he recently said he's now fully committed to after years of being sidetracked by Stardew. "Working on it," he wrote. "I'm glad you're looking forward to it. And I will be VERY happy to share it with everyone when it's finished."