The Nightmare Before Christmas Arrives to Disney Dreamlight Valley with Game's Full Release

After a little more than a year since the original Disney Dreamlight Valley release on Early Access, it's finally time to fully explore the Valley and finish all of the "core" gameplay with Update 1.0 with The Pumpkin King Returns update on the 5th of December 2023. Here's how everything's changed, what you can expect of the full release, and more!

Gameloft's release title that shook the world has now been out in Early Access over 16 months, from its original release back on the 6th of September. According to the Early Access Game section on its Steam page, it was expected that Disney Dreamlight Valley would come out in a minimum of six months and would be out "sometime in 2023", which has been met. It was released with three Founders editions, and the team had originally planned to release it in a free-to-play format once the Early Access period ended, though that was scrapped near the official release announcement.

Originally, the game came out with a few characters, which has grown into a staggering 29 villagers you can get, with the latest one releasing on this next update — the King of Frights, Jack Skellington. These all come with 10 items minimum and a slew of quests you can complete as you level them up, giving you plenty of content to complete.

With the official release of the game, the main storyline has now concluded, introducing the narrative of The Forgotten and the story that revolves around the ruler and the Valley, including the mystery of the Night Thorns and more. This has given players hundreds (and some, thousands) of hours of playtime, with weekly Dreamsnap challenges to earn the Premium currency that is community-voted, and more.

Now, Disney Dreamlight Valley is out of its Early Access period, which means that all newcomers to the title will be able to experience the entire narrative and meet all of the first set of characters available, including eight biomes to decorate. Though, everyone who buys the game now will not be able to benefit from the Founder's Rewards or get a massive discount on Moonstones, they'll still be able to experience the entire game without waiting for updates that could come once every few months.

The Pumpkin King Returns update is coming with a couple of changes that aren't only centred around Jack Skellington (though he is the highlight of it all). There are a slew of new optional items in the Premium Shop to get, the new Royal Winter Star Path to finish, and even the Valley Visits multiplayer mode that we knew was coming ever since release. Those who like a neat Valley will be happy to hear that you can now remove villagers using the map menu, giving you full control over who is and isn't part of your small community.

The holiday event is back again from its original release in December 2022 when the game released, wherein players can get wrapping paper around the Valley and complete season-specific dreamlight challenges. This also comes with knee-length basic skirts to decorate your character more and a slew of item changes to fit their main theme (including making Goofy's Signature Hat more... Goofy.)

Finally, the release of The Pumpkin King Returns also marks the arrival of the first-ever expansion pass, featuring Disney Dreamlight Valley: A Rift in Time, where you'll get even more content to play through, a whole new area, and a couple of characters (even my personal favourite, Rapunzel) to commune with and invite to your Valley (or even decorate the new area!).

The Nightmare Before Christmas has arrived in the valley, alongside a slew of updates, changes, and updates. If you have been looking forward to getting into Disney Dreamlight Valley, it might be the time to take the plunge and create your own dreamy Disney- and Pixar-inspired world.