Disney Dreamlight Valley Scraps Free-to-Play Plans, Sets Pricing Tiers Ahead of Global Launch

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Disney Dreamlight Valley will leave its year-long “early access” phase Dec. 5. Rather than turn into a free-to-play game upon its global launch, as it had assured users was the plan from the start of its beta phase a year ago, Disney Dreamlight Valley will now remain a paid offering with different priced tier levels and require an expansion pack purchase of its next major update, “A Rift in Time.”

In a blog post published to the official Disney Dreamlight Valley website Friday, the team behind the Gameloft game wrote: “As we look ahead to the official launch, with the learnings we’ve gained from Early Access, we’ve made the decision to remain a paid game for the foreseeable future. This means we will not make the transition to be a free-to-play game when we leave Early Access on Dec. 5.”

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The statement continued: “This choice ensures that Disney Dreamlight Valley will be able to continue delivering on a premium game experience for all players. It’s important to us that we maintain our promise to keep delivering free content updates that add new characters, realms, clothing, furniture and more surprises to your Valley. Purchases requiring Moonstones will remain optional, fair and match the level of quality players have come to expect. Players will still be able to collect free Moonstones via Dream Snaps and Chests, or optionally choose to purchase them.”

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Existing Dreamlight Valley players, who had to purchase an early access version of the game, dubbed “Founder’s” packs, in order to play during the year-long beta phase, will keep their access to the game, their Moonstones (the in-game currency that can be earned or purchased with real dollars) and their saved game.

Disney Dreamlight Valley’s original Founder’s packs ran $29.99 for the Standard edition, $49.99 for the Deluxe and $69.99 for the Ultimate, with the higher tiers including in-game exclusive items and additional Moonstones. Founder’s packs will be discontinued on Dec. 4.

As of Dec. 5 global launch, Disney Dreamlight Valley will be offered at multiple paid tiers, with the higher levels offering the core game, plus additional features. On its own, the core game, which includes no exclusive content and no access to new story-progressing expansion packs, will cost $39.99.

The other options are the “Cozy Edition” of the game, which is the previously announced physical copy version of the game that opened for pre-orders in August and became available Oct. 27, for $49.99; and the “Gold Edition,” a digital version of the game, for $69.99.

Both of those versions include the core game, plus exclusive in-game items. Only the Gold Edition will give players access to the expansion pack “A Rift in Time,” which will launch Dec. 5 as the next storyline in Disney Dreamlight Valley.

Per Disney Dreamlight Valley, “all unique cosmetic items included in the upcoming Gold Edition will be given free of charge to any player who purchases and claims a Founder’s Pack in-game on or before Dec. 4, no matter the tier” and all Founder’s players will also receive 2,500 Moonstones. However, that offer does not include access to the “A Rift in Time” expansion pack, which will still cost existing players $29.99 to play.

Disney and Gameloft will share additional details about the “A Rift in Time” expansion in a showcase event about future updates and the upcoming multiplayer feature Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. ET, which will stream on Twitch, YouTube and Facebook Live. Per the game team, “During the stream, we will dive into the Expansion Pass, showing off this all-new adventure across Eternity Isle where you’ll meet new friends, discover new biomes and immerse yourself in new gameplay features.”

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