Summary

  • Palworld continues to smash through its personal records just a week after launch, once again breaking its concurrent player count record on Steam.
  • The massively popular monster-catching and survival game has seen fans flock to the game for both its cute Pals and unique spin on the genre, selling over 8 million copies.
  • Despite facing backlash and accusations of theft of intellectual property from critics and The Pokemon Company, developer Pocket Pair remains committed to updates with online play as its main focus.

The runaway success of Palworld continues as the game has once again shattered its concurrent player count on Steam with millions of active users. The launch of the mash-up of survival and monster-catching games last week has seen overwhelming popularity, taking the internet by storm and seeing players flock to the game. The newest game from developer Pocket Pair would sell over 7 million copies on Steam within just five days of its launch, also releasing Day 1 on Xbox Game Pass. Now, the game has once again exceeded one of its own records.

The popularity of Palworld has seen plenty of fans draw comparisons between the new game and other popular franchises. The game's titular Pals have been one of its most popular aspects, taking inspiration from franchises like Pokemon with its mix of cute and imposing designs. However, the game goes beyond its monster-catching inspiration and offers a variety of survival game aspects including base-building, a crafting system, and more. Now, players are clearly loving Palworld as the game once again shatters the 2 million concurrent players mark.

A new update from popular Steam aggregate website SteamDB has revealed that Palworld has once again broken its concurrent player record. As of Saturday morning, Palworld saw a staggering 2,099,074 players actively playing the game, later breaking its own record again with 2,101,535 players. The numbers come as the game has already reported over 8 million copies sold within the first week of the game's release. The player counts notably only take into account players on the Steam version of the game, not including Game Pass players.

Palworld Breaks Its Concurrent Player Record Again

While Palworld's overwhelming success as an indie game has seen praise from many fans, the game has also faced repeated backlash. Many critics of the game have accused Pocket Pair of both using AI and directly ripping assets from the Pokemon franchise for its Pals. The Pokemon Company would even release an official statement about Palworld, claiming it intends to "investigate and take appropriate measures" regarding the accusations of theft of intellectual property. The former top lawyer for The Pokemon Company would even go so far as to directly call Palworld a "ripoff."

A screenshot from monster-catching survival game Palworld. The image depicts the Pal Lifmunk pointing a gun at the camera.

While The Pokemon Company threatens action against Palworld, developer Pocket Pair has not slowed down, with plenty of updates planned. Pocket Pair recently unveiled its first content roadmap for Palworld, emphasizing online play as its main focus. Some of the features mentioned within the roadmap include overworld PvP, raid bosses, and a special PvP mode for Pal battles among others. Palworld's continued support will look to see the game maintain its momentum from its astoundingly successful launch.

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Palworld Tag Page Cover Art

Palworld
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Open-World
Shooter
Survival
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Systems
PC-1 PlayStation-1 Xbox-1
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Top Critic Avg: 71 /100 Critics Rec: 58%
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Released
January 19, 2024
ESRB
T For Teen Due To Violence
Developer(s)
Pocket Pair, Inc.
Publisher(s)
Pocket Pair, Inc.
Engine
Unreal Engine 5
Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
Cross-Platform Play
Xbox Series X|S, pc
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WHERE TO PLAY

SUBSCRIPTION
DIGITAL
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In this game, you can peacefully live alongside mysterious creatures known as Pals or risk your life to drive off a ruthless poaching syndicate. Pals can be used to fight and breed, or they can be made to work on farms or factories. You can even sell them or eat them.
Survival: In a harsh environment where food is scarce and vicious poachers roam, danger waits around every corner. To survive, you must tread carefully and make difficult choices...even if that means eating your own Pals when the time comes.
Mounts & Exploration: Pals can be mounted to traverse the land, sea and sky—allowing you to traverse all kinds of environment as you explore the world.
Collect all kinds of exciting Pals to fight, farm, build, and work for you in this completely new multiplayer, open world survival and crafting game!

Number of Players
1-4 (Co-Op); 32 Players Server Limit
Genre(s)
Open-World, Shooter, Survival