8 things we know about Palworld so far

Palworld has attracted plenty of interest as the release date rapidly approaches, but plenty is still unknown about the Pocketpair title.

Set to release on Xbox and Steam on Jan. 19, 2024, Palworld puts players on a familiar hunt for rare creatures to battle with but provides a significant twist to the established formula with third-person combat and survival elements.

While questions are floating about on Palworld, we’ve answered some of them with eight key things we know about the title so far.

More than just “Pokémon with guns”

Ever since the first trailer for Palworld was released, Pocketpair’s title has been dubbed “Pokémon with guns.” But that was not planned by the developer and has not transferred away from the Western World.

Speaking to Dot Esports in August 2023, Pocketpair’s CEO Takuro Mizobe revealed the meme “was not famous in Japan” and comparisons were “purely accidental.” Although Palworld has taken inspiration from other titles, Mizobe said it is a “very unique game” and they “believe that there’s nothing like it.”

As for the games that inspired Palworld, the idea came from replacing Craftopia’s automation aspect with humans or monsters, though Mizobe expressed he is a fan of Rimworld and Ark, taking aspects from similar titles to create “a unique blend of real-time-strategy, monster collector, and third-person shooter.”

Developed using Unreal Engine

When the first trailer for Palworld was created using Unity, the same engine used in Craftopia, but a “significant decision” was made during development, Mizobe told Dot Esports, despite the fact it “would have been natural to continue developing Palworld in Unity.”

Switching to Unreal Engine opened up “new and exciting possibilities” for the team, resulting in challenges, including “maintaining a toon-style for characters.” But Mizobe is confident the decision “added a unique touch to Palworld.”

Switching to Unreal Engine 5 has also opened up the doors for modding in Palworld, which leads us to our next point.

Modding support is planned

While modding support is not among the features players can enjoy in Palworld, there are plans for it to be added as part of the ongoing development of Pocketpair’s title throughout early access and beyond.

As part of a Q&A thread on Discord following the announcement of the release date, Pocketpair said that, although Steam Workshop support is not immediately available, it “plans to add it after launch” and “look forward to seeing what sort of mods people come up with.”

What isn’t specified, however, is whether mod support would be limited to just Steam only or whether Palworld will go down the route of adding mods to the game across all platforms.

Rare “Lucky Pals” can be found

As part of Dot Esports’ interview with Mizobe in August 2023, it was revealed that Palworld has its own take on the Shiny Pokémon, a beloved feature in the Nintendo series of games, and there are rare variants of Pals to search for.

These “Lucky Pals” are different from regular Pals, which can be spotted by size mutations and covered in light. These Pals are “more ferocious” than their regular counterparts but can be “powerful allies” once caught. Unlike Shiny Pokémon, “Lucky Pals” will not have a different color scheme and the only known way to identify them is by their larger size and glowing appearance.

Palworld could go to space in the future

Palworld has plenty of potential for continued expansion in the future and a roadmap for updates in the first year is due to be shared shortly after launch. However, we’ve already been teased about one possibility.

Speaking to Dot Esports, Mizobe revealed there were plans early in development to create “a vast underground world” or “going to space” before those plans were eventually shelved, but those ideas could be revived in the future.

Every Pal has a weapon of choice

Undoubtedly the biggest talking point surrounding Palworld is the sight of these adorable creatures using guns and other weapons in combat, which is set to be a huge part of gameplay and opens the door for plenty of options in fights.

While the guns caught the eye, Mizobe told Dot Esports that “not all Pals use guns,” but each Pal does have its own weapon of choice. In the future, this could be expanded further with “features such as customizing the guns that Pals use.”

New Pals will be added

As we’ve already detailed, Pocketpair has long-term plans for Palworld with new content being added throughout early access and beyond, including new Pals to expand the Paldeck and add to the creatures you can catch.

These updates will be included as standard in the base game for Palworld, although Pocketpair said in a Q&A that there may be expansions to the game in the future—but that is a conversation it will have with the community at a later date.

Pals can be eaten, poached, or hunted

Palworld will provide you with the freedom to enjoy the game however you like, and if you want to, you can turn to darker tactics like eating the creatures you find and catch, poaching them to sell, or hunting them for resources.

This could lead to attention from NPCs, with some of the approaches being illegal, and it remains to be seen how other characters will interact with you if you choose this route and how the Pals react to seeing their friends become your dinner.