Few were expecting Disney Dreamlight Valley to blow up like it did, but with the growing audience for cozy games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons and the lasting appeal of the Disney brand, perhaps its success should not have been so surprising. With a solid gameplay loop and hours’ worth of Disney Dreamlight Valley quests available to enjoy, Gameloft’s charming game has won over many players and gathered a larger audience through its early access program. That sizable fan base has a lot to look forward to in 2023.
New Star Paths will continue to be introduced to Disney Dreamlight Valley, and could focus on holidays like Valentine's Day or specific Disney properties. More community-suggested improvements will likely be made as well, and some even bigger additions will be coming throughout the year. Alongside more characters, the game will be going free-to-play, allowing it to experience a resurgence and become a talking point once again as more players enter the valley.
Characters That Could Come to Disney Dreamlight Valley in 2023
Since Disney Dreamlight Valley became available through early access, players have seen Scar, Stitch, and Toy Story's Buzz and Woody added to the game. It is hard to imagine the character additions stopping anytime soon, and when it comes to who gets added next, Belle from Beauty and the Beast certainly seems to be the most likely addition. Featured on a majority of the game’s promotional material alongside Buzz and Stitch, who just recently came to the game, it seems like Belle’s debut could be imminent.
With Belle coming to the game, it seems like a guarantee that her partner Beast will follow. This is logic that can be applied to several other characters. For instance, though Scar was the first representative of The Lion King, he will not be the only one, as players already know that characters like Simba are on the way. Similarly, Mother Gothel will likely not be the only character to represent Tangled, as both Rapunzel and Flynn could be coming as well.
Aside from fleshing out existing franchises, realms and characters from other franchises could start to make their way to the Valley as 2023 goes on. Franchises like Monsters Inc. and Wreck It Ralph are expected to appear, while content from Mulan, Hercules, and other franchises is a possibility. Gameloft has only scratched the surface with its character additions thus far, as there is plenty of interesting content that can still come to the game.
Disney Dreamlight Valley’s Free-to-Play Release
Though an exact release date is still unknown, as far as players know Disney Dreamlight Valley is still on track for a free-to-play release at some point in 2023. When this happens, existing fans can inspect an influx of new players who they can teach about the game, helping the communities on Reddit and Discord grow significantly. Once Gameloft feels the game is in a position to get a proper release and leave early access, the developer could focus fully on bringing more content to the game, meaning that character releases may become more frequent.
Multiplayer for Disney Dreamlight Valley is one way that the game is going to be expanded, though its release date is also unconfirmed. However, development of the game’s online component will begin once Disney Dreamlight Valley has gone free-to-play, so whether it releases in 2023 depends on how early the early access period comes to an end. If the free-to-play launch happens at the start of this year, then multiplayer could come before 2024. If it happens later, then players should not expect multiplayer to come until next year. Regardless of whether online play comes in 2023, the year should be full of fun content additions, and Disney Dreamlight Valley’s free-to-play launch will help the game grow even more popular.
Disney Dreamlight Valley is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.