Palworld Developer Doesn't Hold Back On Playerbase Discourse
"Palworld" is here to stay, regardless of concerns over its longevity and playerbase numbers. Three weeks after its spectacular launch weekend, "Palworld" continues to dominate the gaming conversation. The early access game has drawn both ire and admiration alike from gamers, with haters spending almost as much time watching and commenting on the game as fans have. Pocketpair's "Pokémon with guns" survival crafting game came out of the gate swinging, racking up millions of sales and smashing concurrent player records on Steam. Earlier this week, it seemed like the game was beginning to slip just a bit in the charts, dropping about 70% from its all-time concurrent player peak of 2,101,867 people. It should be noted that the game is still high atop Steam's player charts, even with the drop-off from launch weekend. Still, the negative attention has reached developer Pocketpair, prompting a response from the developer's Community Manager on social media.
"In May of 2023, I was convinced that Palworld could break the 50,000 player mark," said Pocketpair Community Manager Bucky in a heartfelt message to fans. "Anything above that seemed unobtainable though, and I certainly never expected it to reach into the millions." As excited as Bucky is to see the overwhelmingly positive response to "Palworld," however, the Community Manager also didn't mince words when it came to addressing the discourse surrounding the game's player count. After all, "Palworld" is just getting started.
The Palword chart discourse is 'lazy'
"This emerging Palworld has lost X% of its player base' discourse is lazy, but it's probably also a good time to step in and reassure those of you capable of reading past a headline that it is fine to take breaks from games," Bucky's post reads. As many have noted previously, the decline in player numbers experienced by "Palworld" makes a lot of sense for a game of this type. YouTuber Syntac replied, "No progression based game could ever hold those concurrent numbers for long ... it's still very much in the top 10 on Steam." In other words, "Palworld" still has a dedicated fanbase and the drop-off from launch weekend is by no means a death knell.
Bucky also mentioned the fact that Pocketpair has been working around the clock to put out hotfixes and various updates for the game, all of which have been designed with the goal of making "Palworld" better and more stable. The team is also working on building new content and fulfilling the exciting roadmap that Pocketpair unveiled just a couple of weeks ago. Some of the teased features include new PVP modes, more creatures to collect, and raid bosses that are sure to excite gamers who love a challenge. However, as Bucky noted, these updates aren't going to happen overnight.
According to Bucky, the developer understands if people need to step away from "Palworld" while they wait for all of this promised content: "Some of you may have had your fun over the last 3 weeks and found yourself putting the game down. That is fine." So what does Pocketpair recommend that people do while they wait? Play more games, of course!
With Palworld quickly approaching the 1-month mark, it's interesting to look back at my own thoughts for launch.
In May of 2023, I was convinced that Palworld could break the 50,000 player mark. Anything above that seemed unobtainable though, and I certainly never expected it to... pic.twitter.com/1rZaV30QON
— Bucky | Palworld & Craftopia (@Bucky_cm) February 14, 2024
Palworld fans will be back
In closing, Bucky reassured players that it is perfectly okay to find other stuff to play while waiting for new "Palworld" content to drop, even going so far as to recommend another recent release, "Helldivers 2," in another post. Bucky explained, "Palworld, like many games before it, isn't in a position to pump out massive amounts of new content on a weekly basis. New content will come, and it's going to be awesome, but these things take a little bit of time. There are so many amazing games out there to play; you don't need to feel guilty about hopping from game to game."
The replies to Bucky's post have been pretty much overwhelmingly wholesome, with one commenter calling it "a common W yet again from the Pocket Pair team." fans sharing their favorite "Palworld" gameplay moments so far, speculating about upcoming content updates, and sharing how many hours they've logged in the game since it went live (spoilers: some people have played this game a whole lot). Many also seem to agree with Bucky's sentiments, noting that it makes total sense for folks to enjoy other games in between their "Palworld" sessions and anticipating that folks will come back in droves as soon as the first big content update rolls out. Others have admitted that they've begun to feel like they've exhausted everything the game has to offer at this time, but that they're still happy to return to "Palworld" after they've completed a few other neglected games in their Steam or Game Pass library.
It seems that even though the initial fervor has died down, "Palworld" is in a great spot with its playerbase.