Stardew Valley is a sandbox farming game, but it also features relationships with characters. Recently, the game's creator, Eric Barone, known as ConcernedApe, gave an interview. During the conversation with GameInformer, the "cheating" mechanic was discussed.
The creator of Stardew Valley noted that if he hypothetically added cheating to the game, it would not be without consequences:
I wouldn't make it so everyone was okay with it. Everyone would hate you for it. It would lead to chaos, disaster, and suffering, people would be angry, and you would break up a family.
Eric Barone said that he hasn't added cheating to Stardew Valley yet because he fears the fans' reaction:
Part of me thinks, "Maybe that's too realistic?" Maybe Stardew Valley should, to some extent, be an escape from such things. [And cheating] is too much like reality, you know?
When quotes from the GameInformer interview went viral online, players once again began discussing the possibility of introducing a cheating mechanic into the game. Some interpreted Eric's words as "confirmation" of cheating coming soon in update 1.7.
ConcernedApe reacted to comments on social media and emphasized that his reasoning in that interview was theoretical:
I'm not actually going to [add cheating]. I was just theorizing: if I were to actually do something like that, it certainly wouldn't be without consequences — everyone would hate you, there would be serious consequences for your moral mistakes. If you're making a sandbox game, in my opinion, it's interesting to let players do different things, even bad ones. But there should be consequences. It teaches a life lesson. If you get away with everything or everyone is okay with it, that would be bad.