People like Disney stuff, who knew?

Earlier this year, Disney, in conjunction with game developer Gameloft, announced their new project, Disney Dreamlight Valley. The game was promoted as a life simulator in a similar vein to games like Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley, but with the distinctive veneer of Disney characters and imagery. This week, the game released, and to nobody’s particular surprise, it’s become an instant hit.

Disney Dreamlight Valley has already rocketed to the top of the release charts on PC gaming storefront Steam with nearly 4,000 concurrent users, and the statistics on other platforms like Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation are similar. This is particularly interesting because the game isn’t actually finished yet; it has launched in an Early Access state, which means some content has not been implemented yet and there may be more bugs and glitches than usual.

This might be the happiest neighborhood on earth

Move on into Disney Dreamlight Valley now with Game Pass pic.twitter.com/oxWVTuZbke

— Xbox Game Pass (@XboxGamePass) September 6, 2022

In spite of that, players have praised the game for being an entertaining and relaxing experience, made better by interactions with numerous classic Disney and Pixar characters. Many reviewers and commenters have said that they’ve had a good time playing the game alongside their young children. Some users, however, have expressed concerns with the game’s business model, noting that it seems to be setting up for a heavily microtransaction-focused model. Gameloft has made multiple mobile games in the past with heavily money-reliant models, and the presence of premium currencies in Disney Dreamlight Valley has some skeptical.

We’ll have to wait and see what direction the developers take the game in as it evolves.