Stardew Valley has just turned 10 and developer ConcernedApe made two characters romanceable and both fans and streamers are unhappy.
Stardew Valley is known for its charming pixelated art style, laid-back gameplay and lore that is deeper than you would expect. As you interact with other characters and give them gifts, you build relationships and can even marry them. Now, you have two more romance options in the game: One of which is Clint.
New Update Celebrating The 10-Year Anniversary
For patch 1.7 it had already been announced that players would be able to romance characters that were not romanceable before. Obviously, that lead to a lot of speculation. Stardew Valley has a big community, including a lot of content creators and small streamers but most of them still agree on one simple thing: The local blacksmith Clint is the last person they would want to romance.
Istg if it's clint i'm gonna be on the news https://t.co/oDPtA7X9u3
— VEVGEN OPEN!VE (@milkkirie) February 26, 2026
The reason for that is quite simple: He comes off as kind of rude and has a crush on another villager called Emily that he doesn't seem to be able to move on from which most players think is a little creepy (and his opening hours can be a little inconvenient for all the mining lovers out there). Unfortunately for those fans, however, he will now be one of the two new romanceable characters.
Why Clint And Not The Wizard?
As it was announced that the two new marriage candidates would be Sandy and Clint, the community was left heartbroken. While no one seemed to be sad about having Sandy as an option, most of them were hoping to get Marnie or maybe the Wizard as the second option.
clint's redemption arc better go cRAZYYY
— janna banana (@jannapixel) February 27, 2026
rasmodius was riGHT THERE https://t.co/MHXoywg8B9 pic.twitter.com/QXdEMxWfyq
The shock even went beyond the Stardew Valley Community: People from outside the community also know why this announcement left many fans feeling uneasy. Horror Streamer and V-Tuber Grimmi for example stated that they have never seen so much disappointment from an update of such sorts ever before:
I think I've only heard positive things about Stardew until this moment. It had years of unrelenting support, and this is like the biggest tidal wave of disappointment I've ever seen for a video game update
— Grimmi Streamer and Vtuber and Spooky (@GrimmiVT) February 27, 2026
It's kind of incredible https://t.co/Qg74iFVFli
Others, however, are also noting that they think the Clint hate was blown out of proportion. And while it is true that you do not have to marry him in game just because he will now be romanceable, updates like this one are kind of rare, making their disappointment understandable.