PS5 Stardew Valley-Like Game Accidentally Released 2 Months…

Starsand Island, a cozy farming/life sim that shares a lot of qualities with Stardew Valley, appears to have shown up about two months ahead of schedule on PlayStation 5. While the Stardew Valley-like game is planned for release across multiple platforms, Starsand Island currently only appears to be listed for active purchase on PS5.

Active fans have already had some hands-on time with Starsand Island through a playable demo that was available on Steam from October 8-21. Though it was just a section of a pre-release build of the game, many players have reacted positively to its customization options and anime-inspired aesthetic, with some complaining that they wished the demo had been longer.

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By Carla Carmona

Starsand Island Shows Up Unexpectedly on the PlayStation Store

As announced at the Tokyo Game Show in September, Sandsand Island's release date was supposed to fall on February 1, 2026. However, as discovered by Gematsu, Starsand Island has now been found for sale on the PlayStation Store, selling at a price of $42.49. It's likely this is an error with the online store, as the game is still listed on other online storefronts like Steam and the Microsoft Store without a purchase option, with the former platform still listing its release window as the first quarter of 2026. The game is also planned for release on Nintendo Switch, but an eShop page does not appear to have been made available to the public yet. Additionally, no new release has an announcement been made on the game's official social media channels, though a recent post states it has been added to more than 400,000 wish lists.

The PlayStation Store's page only shows a single player rating for Starsand Island, which rates it as a perfect five stars. Players can experience a cozy game with a Studio Ghibli-like aesthetic that features plenty of classic farming and ranching gameplay that are common in the farming sim genre. However, Starsand Island also sports some more uncommon features, with a high degree of customization across the island through its crafting and building systems. Additionally, players are able to seek out hidden treasures and even buy or rent vehicles.

Of course, life simulators would get boring without other characters to interact with, so Starsand Island includes relationship and romance options with its NPCs, and it takes things a step further than most farming sims. In an interview with The Best War Games from July, technical producer Golton Gao said the development team also drew inspiration from The Sims series, allowing its NPCs to interact and form bonds with each other, and the intuitive social system has computer-controlled islanders reacting to players' behavioral signals and cues from the environment to guide their actions.

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