What happens to Dreams now that live support has ended?

Hey, coMmunity - it’s the Media Molecule Community Team here!

Back in April, we detailed that we’ll be discontinuing live support for Dreams, effective September 1st, 2023. Since then, we’ve released some of our most exciting updates to Dreams, including the Animation Update in June and of course, Tren just last month. Today, with the Audio Importer now reinstated on indreams.me, we’ve reached the end of the Dreams release roadmap.

Your reception of Tren has been absolutely phenomenal. Whether that’s seeing folks experience what the game itself has to offer, or being amazed at the creativity behind your own Tren creations, know that the team behind Tren and all of us at Media Molecule are incredibly honoured to see it resonate with so many people. If you’re reading this and have yet to download Dreams to try Tren, it’s still available via the Game Catalog on PlayStation Plus(opens in new tab)!

What happens now?#

We’ve been seeing people ask; with Tren released and the Audio Importer on the way, what happens now? We wanted to use this blog to outline our plans and to reassure you, whether you’ve been a dreamer since the start or joined us from PlayStation Plus, that despite the ending of live-service support, Dreams and all of its content will remain available on PlayStation for everybody to access and play. If there are to be any further changes regarding Dreams, these will be communicated ahead of time.

You’ll still be able to create and release your own Dreams experiences, and play the thousands created by others. Thanks to the updates released this year, we've introduced more ways for dreamers to make the most out of their creations. This includes the new Dreams Content Usage Terms that launched in July, which allow for music, art and imagery created in Dreams to be used for personal or commercial use outside of Dreams without express permission from us at Media Molecule. It also includes our previously mentioned Animation Update, which allows for more optimised animations to be more easily created in Dreams by both experienced animators or those looking to learn and expand their knowledge.

Back in May, our amazing server team launched the new Dreams server into the wild to ensure stability for Dreams. This also allowed us to prepare the game itself for the influx of new players that came in August when the game launched on PlayStation Plus. It’s been a real joy for us at Media Molecule - and hopefully for you, the CoMmunity - to see Dreams reach a whole new audience. If you’re reading this after joining last month: welcome! We’ve loved watching you explore the Dreamiverse. We’re looking forward to welcoming more and more new dreamers for as long as Dreams remains a part of the Game Catalog for Extra and Premium PlayStation Plus subscribers.

CoMmunity support#

So, what about on our team’s end? As we said back in April, the Community Team at Mm will continue promotion and curation of all the amazing work the Dreams coMmunity do. Our social channels will still play host to the amazing experiences created in Dreams, and our curation team will continue their dedicated work, in-game and out, to highlight exciting new content in Dreams, and seek to ensure that our creators feel represented. As always, our curation team will be reviewing their approach over time and keeping you up to date with any changes to it.

With the wider Media Molecule team now shifting their focus to the studio’s new project, we’re eager to play our part in defining and shaping the next chapter of Mm’s creative story! With that in mind, we’ll be making a few adjustments to our streaming schedule to help us balance both our new project and Dreams. We’ll be moving our streams to once a week, on a Wednesday, whilst still making sure that Dreams and its community are the priority on streams. Every now and then we may check out a fellow PlayStation Studio’s new game, or hear expert tips and recommendations from the Molecules that make up our studio. Rest assured, though, that our streams aren’t going anywhere and we’ll still be chatting with you on a weekly basis at 5PM UK time on Twitch(opens in new tab), unless we communicate otherwise.

Earlier in the year, we soft-launched our new Media Molecule website! The new-look mediamolecule.com(opens in new tab) has been alive and kicking for a few months now, but today we’re excited to formally introduce it. Go here to read the very first post on the brand-new Mm blog! You’ll be able to use the site to stay up to date on all studio-related goings-on, get an insight into what makes Media Molecule tick, as well as check out any vacancies we have on the team and various other bits and bobs. All Dreams-related editorial articles will continue to be published here on The Impsider on indreams.me.

That’s a lotta words!#

So what’s the TL;DR? Whilst Dreams’ live support has now reached an end, support from our Community Team will continue for the foreseeable future. Our streams will move to once a week but will maintain a focus on Dreams and the coMmunity. Our new website is now live and we’ll be posting fun Mm-related stuff over there more often, while keeping indreams.me as a home for Dreams coMmunity things. And importantly, you are still able to - all together now - play, create and share in Dreams.

Since we launched the Dreams Beta in 2018, Early Access in 2019 and the full release in 2020, the coMmunity has turned it into something truly beautiful. We have loved watching Dreams evolve and take so many weird, wonderful and magical forms. And, as we now move into the next stage of Media Molecule’s journey, we hope dreamers will continue to create unique experiences and make lifelong friendships as part of our community.