Stardew Valley Multiplayer Beta Now Playable

Stardew Valley is one step closer to bringing multiplayer to the main game, and now players on PC are able to opt-in to a new beta that allows them to try out co-op play. Developer ConcernedApe has announced version 1.3 is now in public beta, and those who want to try multiplayer can do so by following a few steps.

To enable the new beta, right-click the game in your library and select Properties. In the Betas tab, type the password jumpingjunimos and click Check Code button. You should then be able to select Beta in the drop down box, and that will prompt the game to download version 1.3. ConcernedApe encourages players to back up their game first, and gives instructions on Steam.

In Stardew Valley's new multiplayer, you can host your own farm. Up to three other friends can live with you on your farm, and you'll need to either build them cabins to live in or use pre-built ones. Cabins are cheap, so it should be easy to get your friends in the game fairly early. You'll all share the farm, your money, and world updates, while inventory, skills, and NPC relationships will all be kept separate.

You can choose whether you want your friends on your Steam/GOG list to be able to join, or if you'd like your farm to invite only, meaning only those with invitations or invite codes will be able to join your server. ConcernedApe is sharing a few other details about multiplayer too. For instance, you can marry another player; only the host will be able to pause the game; to sleep, all players must head to bed and say 'yes' to the dialog, otherwise the day won't end; starting a festival works the same, with all players needing to be at the festival location before it can begin.

You can get more details on the new multiplayer beta from the patch notes on Steam. ConcernedApe says there will be new content coming to the single-player game and it will announce more details about that at a later date. Multiplayer is coming to consoles, as well, with the Nintendo Switch version being the first to get it.