With over a year of early-access time now logged, Gameloft has announced that Disney Dreamlight Valley–the Animal-Crossing-esque life sim featuring a who’s who of Disney characters–will fully launch globally on December 5. However, the news comes with a major caveat: Despite originally being touted as a free-to-play title, Gameloft has changed course and elected not to go that route anymore.
A new blog post on the game’s official website confirmed the global release date, while also explaining the reasoning behind the choice to remain a paid game. One major reason behind the choice, according to the post, was to let the studio “continue delivering on a premium game experience,” which includes regular free content updates.
“This choice ensures that Disney Dreamlight Valley will be able to continue delivering on a premium game experience for all players,” the blog post reads. “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.