Japanese developer “Pocket Pair”, known mainly for their 2020 release of Craftopia revealed that the sales of their latest video game “Palworld,” which recently entered early access on Steam on January 20, have surpassed one million sales.
This milestone was achieved within 8 hours of the release, showcasing an impressive speed in ascending to the ranks of successful games.
“Palworld” stands as an open-world survival crafting game accessible on Xbox home consoles and obviously on PC where these sorts of titles feel most at home. The game unfolds on the enigmatic Palpagos Island, which is inhabited by peculiar creatures known as Pals.
Lots of comparisons between Palworld have been made versus the likes of Pokemon given the cutesy critters, the game as a whole is essentially what Pokemon should be in the modern era.
Minus the buggy bullshit and drip fed content, Palworld is an open world survival crafting game, which has been all the rage over the past several years where players can capture and use these “Pals” to maim and slaughter other Pals.
Unlike mundane Pokemon titles, Palworld supports cooperative play for up to four players with invited friends and multiplayer for up to 32 players by setting up a dedicated server.
Palpagos Island is home to over 100 uniquely designed Pals, including rare variations, bosses, legendary, and lucky Pals. Additionally, the island is inhabited by villagers, merchants, poachers, and others involved in activities like buying and selling Pals.
This game, blending open-world survival crafting with monster raising elements, has attracted attention even before its official release.
Early access reports indicated a significant interest, with 1.8 million wish lists.
This pre-release popularity appears to have translated into actual sales, with the game reportedly surpassing one million copies within approximately 8 hours of its release for the early access title developed by a small Japanese studio.
Interestingly enough the game is also available via the Xbox Game Pass. Despite being part of subscription services, consumers all over the globe are choosing to purchase the game. Its popularity on Steam is substantial, with an impressive 400,000+ concurrent players and holding the top position in global sales, indicative of its highly tumultuous popularity.
If you’re familiar with games such as ARK: Survival Evolved or Valheim you’re going to feel right at home with Palworld because Nintendo and GameFreak would never be able to produce anything as free and open as Palworld.
Regarding the game’s content, as of the time of writing this article, it has garnered over 7,000 reviews with an impressive 92% approval rating. The game is receiving acclaim for its adept incorporation of fundamental elements from popular survival crafting games alongside its monster elements.
You can capture Pals, use them to assist with survival or assist with building structures, enslave a whole swarm of cute critters and establish your own gun-making sweatshop. Do be warned though, malnourished and overworked Pals will simply drop dead.
The positive user reviews are likely playing a role in sustaining its ongoing success, or rather its foundation is polished and strong despite being in early access and despite being an unfinished product.
It has been laughed at and ridiculed, mainly by devoted Nintendo fanboys who simply refuse to acknowledge the fact that the Pokemon franchise hasn’t only become stale but has seemingly regressed in terms of quality over the last decade, especially with the introduction of the Nintendo Switch console.
Palworld is a lot of things, “Pokemon but with guns”, it’s an open-world sandbox title that allows you to capture of kill these critters, ensnare and enslave them to do your bidding as you traverse your environment, build shelter and survive.
The entire concept is immensely appealing to myself. Millions of people have already jumped on board the bandwagon, and unlike Nintendo trying to sell you broken, buggy and half-arsed Pokemon titles such as Scarlet / Violet and Pokemon Legends for $60 with additional DLC, Palworld provides you with so much more for just $30.
