Palworld Amasses 32 Million Players in Its First Year

Palworld, the crafting and survival game, has now reached 32 million players across all gaming platforms within its first year since launch.

John ‘Bucky’ Buckley, the Communications Director at PocketPair, announced a milestone on X. He expressed gratitude and a commitment to enhancing the game, stating that they will “make Palworld’s second year even better.”

The game’s journey began with its early access release in January 2024, priced at $30 on Steam and simultaneous release on Xbox Game Pass.

Within its first eight hours, Palworld sold one million copies. The momentum continued as sales doubled to two million within 24 hours and reached three million in just 40 hours. By the sixth day, the game had sold an impressive eight million copies.

As per SteamDB, the game peaked at 2,101,867 concurrent players on January 27, securing one of the highest player counts in Steam’s history, second only to PUBG.

By the end of February, the game had sold 15 million copies on Steam alone and attracted 10 million Xbox players.

Capitalizing on this success, Pocketpair formed a strategic partnership with Sony, establishing Palworld Entertainment to expand the game’s intellectual property. This led to the game’s launch on PlayStation 5, further broadening its player base.

However, the road hasn’t been entirely smooth. The game, initially dubbed “Pokémon with guns,” faces significant legal challenges afterward. Nintendo and The Pokémon Company filed a patent lawsuit against Pocketpair in September 2024, seeking 5 million yen (approximately $32,846) each, plus late payment damages. They’re also pursuing an injunction that could potentially block the game’s release.

The lawsuit centers around three Japan-based patents related to catching creatures in a virtual field. Industry observers noted similarities between Palworld’s “Pal Sphere” catching mechanic and the system used in Nintendo’s 2022 release, Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

Pocketpair has recently modified their Pal summoning mechanism, though they haven’t explicitly connected these changes to the ongoing lawsuit.

Despite these challenges, Palworld’s growth continues unabated. The development team has maintained an active update schedule and even pursued collaborations with other popular games, including a crossover with Terraria.

Currently, they are working with PUBG Studio (under Krafton) to bring Palworld onto mobile. PocketPair also launched a new publishing division to support indie games, receiving an impressive 150 game pitches within just one week.