Stardew Valley's long-awaited 1.6 update finally bloomed onto Switch earlier this week, bringing a bumper crop of new additions to the beloved farm sim. This included things like new festivals, floating items and fresh farm layouts, but it also seems to have bundled in its fair share of performance issues, something that creator Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone has been suggesting temporary fixes for while he works on permanent solutions.
The latest suggestion might be the funniest (if most heartbreaking) yet, and honestly, we've got to take our hats off — or, more accurately, take our pets' hats off — to ConcernedApe for coming up with it. Yep, if you want a temporary fix to 1.6 performance issues in Stardew, it seems you'll have to remove all your pets' wonderful headwear.
Getting to put hats on our pets was one of the most adorable 1.6 additions, so it's a shame to see that the fashionable farm animals have been causing havoc in the valley. But if it's a choice between improved performance and a cat in a fedora, we know which one we'd pick... maybe.
This being Stardew Valley, Barone was quick to provide an in-universe explanation as to why all pets' hats need to be returned to the wardrobe for a while. "There's rumours of a strange rash affecting pets' ears in Zuzu City," the creator explained on Twitter, "and we just want to make sure those ears can breathe for a few days". Okay, now we feel better about putting the hats away for a bit.
And by the sounds of it, it really will just be "for a bit". As mentioned in the above tweet, Barone is working to "address the problem as soon as possible", so it shouldn't be too long before we can get back to caring for the swankiest pets in town.
Oh, and if you're wondering how to remove a pet's hat on Switch, Barone's advice is to try and put a different hat on it first, removing the previous one.
We were recently lucky enough to sit down with Barone and discuss all things Stardew, including the creator's thoughts on the board game, his influences and his approach to designing bosses for the upcoming follow-up, Haunted Chocolatier. You'll find the full interview below.