Palworld developer clarifies the hit survival game "will remain buy-to-play" and won't pivot to a free live service model
Sep. 14, 2024“Palworld was never designed with that model in mind”
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
An interview with Pocketpair’s CEO Takuro Mizobe recently hinted that the studio’s smash hit survival gamePalworld could soon go free-to-play in order to “extend its lifespan.“The company has now clarified that the interview was conducted months ago and no such plans are in place anymore.
“We are not changing our game’s business model,” the studiotweetedtoday, “it will remain buy-to-play and not free-to-play or [game as a service]. Recently, an article was published in which we discussed the possible future direction of Palworld and ideas for continuing the game for a long time. In fact, this interview was conducted several months ago.”
The memo explains that Pocketpair were still “considering the best way forward forPalworld” at the time of the interview because the team wanted a “long-lasting game that continues to grow.” Pocketpair is apparently still talking about how to make sure the ‘Pokemon-with-guns’ game stays relevant, but it’s ruled out the live service approach completely.
“Palworld was never designed with that model in mind, and it would require too much work to adapt the game at this point,” the announcement continues. “Additionally, we are very aware that this just isn’t what our players want, and we always put our players first.”
Pocketpair is now considering cosmetic skins and paid DLC “as a means to support development” - though it says the team is mainly focused on making Palworld “the best game possible.”
Palworld was a runaway success when it debuted earlier in the year, as it shattered records across Steam, Xbox, and Game Pass. The CEO even announced that it had generated revenue"in the tens of billions of yen”- at least $70 million - off the survival monster-taming hybrid.
For more games like Palworld, be sure to check out our roundup of thebest survival games.
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that’s vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he’ll soon forget.
A mysterious Palworld update appears to make a change designed to get around the survival game’s legal battle with Nintendo
Five years later, PUBG creator PlayerUnknown finally reveals his massive open-world survival game projects, aiming for “realistic worlds thousands of kilometers wide” across three games
Doctor Doom is emperor of the world – but the insurgent Iron Man is coming for him in “new, deadly” armor
