Palworld fans fear release date delay after new trailer is indefinitely postponed

If you were wondering why there was no new Palworld trailer today, that’s because studio Pocketpair opted to delay it, with no word on when it’ll actually air.

Pocketpair promised a new trailer for its “Pokémon with guns” survival game earlier this month on Dec. 5 (in a teaser that unsubtly copied Rockstar Games’ own tease for the Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer), which was meant to release today at 8am CT.

Earlier today, six hours before the trailer’s debut, Pocketpair admitted via the official Palworld Twitter it would no longer be releasing the trailer. No reason has been given for the delay, nor has a new release date been shared.

Unsurprisingly, this has made some fans worried about whether this means the game itself will be hit with a delay too. Had the trailer only needed to be pushed back by a day or two, that would be one thing. However, the lack of any new date may suggest that content planned to be shown off in the trailer isn’t ready yet—and if it’s not ready for the trailer, then that could mean more development time is required, which in turn could result in a delay.

Oh noooooooo don’t tell me this means the game is getting delayed out of January… 😔

— I Love Edgy Waifus (R.I.P. Etika. 5/12/90-6/19/19) (@ILoveEdgyWaifus) December 18, 2023

A trailer postponement? Sorry, i have seen this before and it is a red flag for me

— Gim (@thegimlik) December 18, 2023

Does this mean the game won’t come out in January like once said

— Kamex (@Kamex_DB) December 18, 2023

At the time of writing, Palworld is scheduled to release as an Early Access title in January 2024. Early Access means you’re not paying for a finished product, but you can provide direct feedback to the developers so they know which areas need to be improved on. However, the game still needs to be in a decent enough state beforehand. Key features promised for Early Access include monster battling, building, and crafting.

Some fans on Twitter are understanding and simply ask the team take their time with Palworld, but that hasn’t stopped others from assuming the worst. “When you finally do release don’t bail immediately like that other company,” one user, ZeroFoxFK, wrote. “Please be real.” This is no doubt a reference to The Day Before, which was shut down less than a week after launch; something many took as proof the game was one big scam.