Highlights

  • Stardew Valley was the most-played game on the Steam Deck in March 2024.
  • The game maintains a large audience and recently reached a new player count peak on Steam.
  • The popularity of Stardew Valley on the Steam Deck is likely driven by the recent 1.6 update for the game.

Eight years after it was first released, Stardew Valley is currently the most-played game on the Steam Deck. The Steam Deck has plenty of incredible titles available for playing on the go, but right now, Stardew Valley has become gamers' top choice once again.

Stardew Valley has done an incredible job of maintaining a massive audience over the years. ConcernedApe's farming RPG is absolutely stuffed with content, which the developer has continued to expand upon with massive updates since its initial 2016 launch. In fact, the game's audience only seems to grow with time. Recently, Stardew Valley reached a new all-time high player count on Steam, marking an incredible achievement for the game.

A key visual for Stardew Valley's 1.6 update.
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OnDeck revealed on Twitter that throughout March 2024, Stardew Valley was the most-played game on the Steam Deck in terms of hours played. It beat some heavy hitters to the title, with Balatro, Helldivers 2, Baldur's Gate 3, and Elden Ring all behind the eight-year-old game. The recent 1.6 update for Stardew Valley is likely the reason for this spike in players, with the patch bringing an enormous amount of new content to the game. Stardew Valley was already the type of game that gamers would put a ton of time into, and with so much fresh content to explore, even veteran players had plenty to experience.

Stardew Valley Was the Most Played Steam Deck Game in March 2024

Over time, the Steam Deck is becoming an increasingly viable way for players to enjoy their favorite games on the go. More games are becoming Steam Deck-verified, from new titles to old favorites, such as Stardew Valley. Over the last twelve months, the most-played game on the Steam Deck was Baldur's Gate 3, although titles such as Dave the Diver, Palworld, and Red Dead Redemption 2 also made the top-ten list. This just showcases the variety of games that are available on the Steam Deck, and the gaming community should only expect this to become more commonplace going forward as Valve continues to commit to the platform.

As for Stardew Valley itself, the future remains bright. It is already one of the best games on the Steam Deck, and ConcernedApe has continued to fix small bugs discovered in the wake of the 1.6 update. Evidently, the community is here to stay for the foreseeable future, so it makes sense to continue supporting Stardew Valley​​​​​​. It's great to see a developer commit to perfecting a single game like this, especially when developing a sequel would be a guaranteed hit.