Chill farming game ‘Stardew Valley’ has officially crossed over to eSports
Stardew Valley, the relaxing farming simulator game, is currently hosting a tournament with a prize pool of $40,000 up for grabs.
Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone, the creator of the smash hit game, announced on Twitter that the Stardew Valley Cup happening on Sept. 4, will pit four teams against each other to complete a range of in-game tasks to win some cold hard cash in real life.
The 1st official Stardew Valley Cup, said to be a “competition of skill, knowledge, and teamwork” will see some of Stardew's most dedicated players and speedrunners in their element. Four teams: Sandy's Candies, Pierree's Cherries, Pam's Yams, and Krobus's Crocuses will compete against one another in the Cup.
In collaboration with @UnsurpassableZ, I'm pleased to announce the 1st official Stardew Valley Cup! It's a competition of skill, knowledge, and teamwork, with a prize pool of over $40k. See some of Stardew's most dedicated players in their element! Main event is Sept. 4th 9am PST pic.twitter.com/qtDW5e5LvD
— ConcernedApe (@ConcernedApe) August 21, 2021
The competitive tournament is being held in partnership with Zach "UnsurpassableZ" Hartman, a YouTuber known for creating content about the game.
In a video on YouTube, the livestreamer explained that the players will be competing in real time to earn points from a list of a hundred different challenges with varying difficulty levels. Challenges in the Stardew Valley Cup range from tasks like "finish the whole Community Center," "start dating an NPC," and "catch a legendary fish."
While the list has been made available for participants to strategize on how to best rack up points, other secret challenges worth high point values will be tossed out during the game in an attempt to lure teams away from their planned strategies.
Stardew Valley, which was originally released for Microsoft Windows in 2016 and later for macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation Vita, iOS, and Android, is considered a critical and commercial success, selling over 10 million copies by 2020.
The 16-bit farming simulation game heavily inspired by the Harvest Moon video game series has players taking the role of a character taking over a grandfather’s dilapidated farm.
The open-ended game allows players to take on activities such as growing crops, raising livestock, crafting goods, mining for ores, selling produce, and socializing with the townspeople, including marriage and having children. It also allows up to three other players to play together online.
While seen mainly as a chill and relaxing farming game people can enjoy playing on their own time, the nature of the tournament with teams playing competitively for spectators, has just brought Stardew Valley to the realm of eSports.
The first Stardew Valley Cup hosted by ConcernedApe and UnsurpassableZ will be held live over on Twitch on Sept. 4, 9:00 a.m. PST.
(Images via Stardew Valley/ConcernedApe)