Oh, I just can’t wait to pay for DLC on top of a paid game filled with microtransactions. Sounds great, right? No, it doesn’t. Disney Dreamlight Valley fans, myself included, are upset about the announcement that the game will no longer be going free to play after leaving early access.
Gameloft announced that as the game leaves early access on December 5, it’s scrapping plans to make Disney Dreamlight Valley a free game. Players across all platforms keep their valleys intact after launch, though, and should not lose any progress or Moonstones as the game transitions into its full launch.
Though the announcement states the game will remain paid for the “foreseeable future”, it doesn’t seem likely it’ll go free to play for quite a while unless it follows in the steps of Sims 4, which makes most of its money off DLC expansion packs instead of the base game.
Up until now, players bought the game to gain access before the full launch and pick up some extra goodies like exclusive pets, clothing, and more. Now, you need to continue to pay to access the game, despite it not having fixed a multitude of problems identified by players on all platforms.
There are different tiers of the game that you can purchase, though all need you to buy the expansion pass on top to get the new DLC content as it rolls out. These tiers range from $39.99 to $69.99, all containing the base game, some amount of Moonstones, and some extra content for the later tiers. Honestly, I’d rather pay less and get no Moonstones, I think – did Scrooge McDuck come into the business meeting and decide these prices?
There’s a Showcase coming to give us a sneak peek at all the content you can expect in the future – both paid and free. Tune in on November 1 at 18:00 CET / 13:00 ET / 10:00 PT.
If this monetization has put you off Disney Dreamlight Valley, then here are some cheap games on Switch to play instead, and some farm games to fulfill your wish of pulling pumpkins out of the ground.