Eric Barone (born December 3, 1987), known professionally as ConcernedApe, is an American game designer and musician. He is best known for independently creating the video game Stardew Valley. He programmed the game, created all art assets as well as all sound effects and music. Barone was born in Los Angeles and spent his childhood in Auburn, Washington. Barone had practiced basic programming but did not consider making video games as a career. Unable to find employment after graduating college, he initially began developing Stardew Valley in 2012 in order to practice programming in C#, and planned to put the game on his resume for potential employers. Barone worked on the game daily as its sole creator until its release in 2016. He was praised for creating the game independently, as its sole designer, programmer, animator, artist, composer, and writer. To complete the game, Barone worked 10 hours a day, seven days a week, for four and a half years. For part of that time, he lived with his parents to save money before moving out with his girlfriend to Capitol Hill, Seattle. Barone initially released Stardew on the PC before later developing it for other consoles. By February 2024, he had sold over 30 million copies. In 2017, he was named by Forbes magazine in their list "30 Under 30: Games" for his work on Stardew Valley. Since 2019, Barone has been assisted on Stardew Valley by another designer. On October 10, 2023, Barone announced the first Stardew Valley concert tour, Stardew Valley: Festival of Seasons, featuring a selection of music from the game performed live by a chamber orchestra.