Palworld was one of the breakout hits of 2024. It launched in Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview in January last year and later came to PS5 towards the end of the year. In a new update marking the game’s first anniversary, its developer Pocketpair revealed the game attracted over 32 million players in its first year.
“Over 32 million Pal Tamers,” read the message posted on X. “It’s been a year since Palworld was released, and thanks to you our fans, Palworld has surpassed over 32 million players across all platforms! (Steam, Xbox, PS5).”
ALSO READ: Nintendo’s 2 Massive Announcements That Made Fans Mad
Pocketpair has provided several roadmaps for the game which shows they are committed to continuously supporting it with new content and features, including co-op crossplay, world transfers for Pals, a final boss and ending scenario, and so on.
Palworld became a reference game for indie developers after it attracted 25 million players in its first month. However, its success has not been without controversies as fans of Nintendo’s Pokémon accused it of being a cheap clone.
Eventually, The Pokémon Company dragged Palworld to court for multiple patent rights infringement. Just recently, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company acquired a new patent in the United States (Patent No. 12,220,638) which many believe will help their lawsuit against Pocketpair and their breakout hit.
The lawsuit which many have interpreted as frivolous has not slowed Pocketpair down in any way. In January this year, the company announced the launch of its publishing arm, Pocketpair Publishing.
Surgent Studios, the developer of Tales of Kenzera: Zau has already declared interest in becoming the first major partner of the publishing arm and is working with the team to create a new horror game.
According to John ‘Bucky’ Buckley, a senior team member at Pocketpair who was recently elevated to the role of Communications Director and Publishing Manager, after a few hours of announcing Pocketpair Publishing, they received over 1,600 requests and propositions from small developers who want to work with the label.
Developers who want to work with the publisher simply have to visit their website and select ‘Pitch Your Game’ to get started.
