Palworld continues to clear major sales milestones and attract players by the millions, but what’s driving its rise to the top?
The open-world game has sold 8 million copies in five days and currently stands as the number one game based on current players in the five days since its release, an average of 1.4 million copies sold daily. Palworld is an instant success in the sales charts, reportedly out-selling most of 2023’s biggest releases and steadily standing at over 1 million concurrent players at any given moment.
In a matter of days, Palworld is gathering larger crowds than Steam’s top games like Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2. Its peak concurrent player counts have also cleared 2 million players, clearing the all-time highs seen by games like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Starfield multiple times over. On Twitch, Palworld is out-pulling games that typically top the charts like Grand Theft Auto 5 and League of Legends. What’s driving that success, though?
Why is Palworld so popular?
Palworld emulates the formulas of various popular game series and combines them in a way that has resonated with fans.
Palworld has been dubbed “Pokemon with guns” by players and gamers in general, and there’s some validity to that as many of the monsters in the game share a resemblance to existing Pokemon. In the game, players can catch these monsters and use them in different ways. The monsters can be used to craft items, farm resources, and even as food.
But instead of being strictly similar to Pokemon, much of Palworld’s gameplay is akin to games like Minecraft and Ark: Survival Evolved. Armed with a pickaxe and a regular axe, players must gather materials to build up their home base. These materials are used to build other structures needed to improve the base.
As players explore Palworld’s map, there will be plenty of foes ready to take a shot at them. The combination of all of these has proven to be a winning combination.
Palworld is available for purchase on Steam and through Xbox Game Pass. The game went online in early version. According to Pocketpair, the game will stay in early access for at least one year. During this time, the developer plans on improving the game by adding features like PvP and bosses.
The full version of the game will include new monsters, new areas, and dungeons. The developer is also planning on adding more items and new game systems.
