Disney Dreamlight Valleyentered early access in September 2022. With it came a good gamein the same vein asStardew Valley, but with the added lure of characters from a plethora ofDisneyfilms it has found a place on many gamers' hard drives. Its gameplay loop is fun and the goals do well to provide a motivation to return tike after time. The future could be bright, but there’s a significant hurdle that it has to overcome if it wants to truly capture the market that it’s clearly shooting for.
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Animal Crossing’s Recent Reputation is Unblemished
Animal Crossingis a unique franchise. It’s one that has evolved and improved with each new iteration, andNew Horizonsis one of the bestgames on a Nintendo Switch that is littered with excellent experiences. Taking villagers to their own island and giving them more freedom to enjoy seamless customization, the potential for endless creativity is a recipe for hours of entertainment.
Nintendo has a tendency to rely on what has worked in the past, rarely introducing new IP in favor of nurturing what has existed for decades. To that end, it would make sense to avoid engaging fully in the genre of live service titles and costly DLC add-ons. Instead, it could keep to convention by asking players to pay up front, having them rest easy knowing that updates will be free of charge. Making those inclusions paid means that fans could have higher expectations, whereas when they’re free it’s just nice to see a game supported.
Disney Dreamlight Valley’s Free to Play Model is a Slippery Slope
Disney Dreamlight Valleyis able to garner a sizable audience simply by virtue of its IP alone.Having theDisneytoy boxto unpack and use for a life simulator game can bring in people who weren’t previously invested in the gaming medium, and making it free-to-play (or at least start) is a good way to slowly get people accustomed to the gameplay loop before they decide if they are willing to put any money into the product. It’s clever, but has the potential to be unfriendly for consumers since the price of DLC and cosmetics is dependent on something out of the players' control. Sure enough, that is what happened with the recent WALL-E DLC pack, which many found overpriced - especially in a game where they already paid for early access.
The free-to-play model is enticing, and can do well to bring many gamers to a product. Still, whileAnimal Crossing’s business model may seem outdated since live services and free-to-play games seem to be all the rage, the series would do well to stay as it is. If it isn’t broken, there’s no need to fix, change, or evolve a thing, andthe masses of people who boughtAnimal Crossing: New Horizons- many of which are still hopping back to their islands regularly - show that fans will pay for quality. Nintendo has built a positive rapport with gamers, and to jeopardize this by using a model similar to that ofDisney Dreamlight Valleycould prove to be a costly mistake.
Disney Dreamlight Valleyis available now on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
