Palworld is one of the surprise hits of 2024 yet. Launched on January 19, the game attracted 25 million players in the first month. Pocketpair, the developer behind Palworld, says they are open to partnerships and acquisitions.
Microsoft gaming division said Palworld is its biggest third-party Game Pass launch to date. According to reports, Palworld was made with a budget of around $6.7 million (less than 1 billion yen). However, it has returned that investment multiple times.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe said the company was in talks to bring Palworld to new platforms. The CEO also said it was not in acquisition talks with Microsoft. Currently, the possible options are PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and mobile.
ALSO READ: Say Hello To SIMA From Google DeepMind, An AI That Can Play Video Games Like Humans
However, considering the controversy about the character model of the game’s close resemblance with Nintendo’s Pokémon, it is hard to imagine that Switch will welcome the game with open arms. The Pokémon Company already said it had launched an investigation that will verify whether Palworld infringed on its IP rights.
Therefore, the best bet when talking about the next platform that Palworld will go to is PlayStation. Poketpair arguably doesn’t need any consultation if the goal is to bring the game to mobile. They would have gone ahead and just made the mobile version and launched it on popular app stores.
Weeks after the release of Palworld, Poketpair warned players to beware of the fake mobile version of the game that was circulating on mobile app stores. In response, many fans of the game suggested that Pocketpair should create a mobile version of the game to fight the fake ones.
ALSO READ: How To Stop Sweaty Hands When Gaming—9 Tricks
Speaking on the possibility of making big-budget games, Mizobe said, “We are and will remain a small studio. I want to make multiple small games. Big-budget triple-A games are not for us. Games are most fun when playing with friends, A game without a multiplayer mode just doesn’t feel right in the era we live today.”
Palworld teases a new raid mode
In an announcement shared on its official X handle, Pocketpair has teased a new raid mode that will be coming to the game soon. The date for the official launch of the mode was not announced. In addition to that, a new Pal will be joining the game’s growing roster.
“A powerful evil Pal has appeared and is laying siege to the Palpagos Islands!” read the announcement on X. “Only the most skilled Pal Tamers stand a chance against her… Palworld’s first raid, Bellanoir, is coming soon!”
🚨Attention Pal Tamers🚨
A powerful evil Pal has appeared and is laying siege to the Palpagos Islands!
Only the most skilled Pal Tamers stand a chance against her…Palworld’s first raid, Bellanoir, is coming soon! pic.twitter.com/jZ4iWVl1Qk
— Palworld (@Palworld_EN) March 15, 2024
In the comment section of that announcement, Pocketpair’s community manager, simply known as Bucky, wrote, “It is almost time gamers…”, suggesting that the arrival of the announced Pal and the raid mode may be coming in a matter of days.
However, following the announcement, fans of the game have raised a series of questions. Some wondered how a “raid” would work in solo mode while others were simply concerned about the server downtime.
Quick question, how would a "Raid" work in Solo Worlds?
Maybe you'll address this in the update notes eventually, which in that case you don't have to reply. Would be kinda nice to know in advance though.
— sharpeningrod🔞 (@sharpeningrod) March 15, 2024
Could be fun if we can play official server and no need to worry about server down btw server still down and it's already 2 months… What the point of temporary server when it doesn't continue our progress not to mention its down too !!!!
— Try 李松芬 (@s7shin) March 15, 2024
Palworld has dropped from the top 10 most-played games on Steam
After its launch, the number of Palworld’s concurrent players grew rapidly. At the peak of its run, the game recorded over 2.1 million concurrent players on Steam, making it the second most concurrently played game on the platform since it was launched. Only PUGB: Battlegrounds has more concurrent players than the monster-taming game.
ALSO READ: Emptyvessel Is A new AAA Studio Formed By Former Id Software And Naughty Dog Veterans
However, due to the paucity of new content (which is understandable considering the small size of Pocketpair’s team), the number of Palworld players has declined significantly. The game has even dropped from the top 10 list of most concurrently played games. At the time of writing, it was sitting in the number 12 spot with less than 100,000 players according to SteamDB stats.
Hopefully, the number of Palworld players will rise again as Pocketpair rolls out new content. However, with new games being released, there is a huge chance that attention may shift to other titles. Let’s wait and see.
