Palworld developer Pocketpair (previously known for Craftopia) must feel like they are on top of the world right now. Their new game, the so-called 'Pokémon with guns' survival crafting game, is topping Steam charts and breaking record after record. They sold one million units in eight hours, two million in twenty-four, and three million in forty hours since the game's launch this Friday.
Palworld has also surpassed one million concurrent players on Steam, leaving behind FromSoftware's Elden Ring and placing itself in the sixth spot on the all-time chart. It is very close to the record registered by CD Projekt RED's Cyberpunk 2077, which reached 1.054 million concurrent players at its peak. Chances are the game by Pocketpair will blaze past that game, too, placing itself in the Top 5. That would be even more notable since it'd make Palworld the top premium game on this particular chart; all the other titles (PUBG: Battlegrounds, Counter-Strike 2, Lost Ark, and Dota 2) are free-to-play games, though to be fair PUBG: Battlegrounds was not free to play yet when it registered its astounding record of 3.25 million concurrent users six years ago, right in the middle of the Battle Royale craze.
Steam isn't even the only place where players can check out Palworld, as the game is also available via the Microsoft Store on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S|X through the Game Preview program. It's included in the Game Pass library, too, although that version is a bit limited since it lacks the 32-player dedicated server option. There's currently no crossplay between the Xbox ecosystem and Steam, but the developers are working to add it to their game. They also said they would consider a PlayStation 5 port during development. Modding is expected to be added to Palworld (which is powered by Unreal Engine 5) after the game's full launch, with Pocketpair estimating at least one year of early access.
Player sentiment around the game is currently very high. On Steam, 93% of the 24K user reviews submitted so far are positive. However, some people are pointing out that the monster designs may have been strongly derived from Pokémon. Others are going as far as suggesting Pocketpair might have used generative AI to create artwork, though of course, there is no evidence of that.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
