Eric Lorenz Barone[2] (/bɑːrɒnɪ/ Ba-ro-ni, born December 3, 1987), known professionally as ConcernedApe, is an American video game designer and musician.

Barone was born in Los Angeles and spent his childhood in Auburn, Washington, a suburb in the Seattle metropolitan area.

He was praised for creating the game independently,[7] as its sole designer, programmer, animator, artist, composer, and writer.

For part of that time, he lived with his parents to save money before moving out with his girlfriend to Capitol Hill, Seattle.

[3][9][10] Barone initially released Stardew on the PC before later developing it for other consoles, and as of December 2024 has sold over 41 million copies.

In the game, players would need to guide a purple pear on a hoverboard between obstacles and compete for a high score.

[19] On August 15, 2020, the orchestral album Symphonic Tale: The Place I Truly Belong (Music from Stardew Valley) directed by Kentaro Sato and performed by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra was released.

[23] In October 2021, Barone announced that a new game titled Haunted Chocolatier was in development, with no set release date.

Barone stated that "almost everything in Haunted Chocolatier, including the combat, is completely coded (and drawn) from scratch.