Palworld’s early access period launched earlier today and it’s safe to say it’s on track to be a success story for developer Pocketpair as it’s quickly broken into the Steam charts.
In less than 24 hours, Palworld has already shot up to become the fourth most-played game on Steam, at least at the time of writing. According to SteamDB, it currently has 344,945 concurrent players, only losing out to long-established multiplayer hits like Counter-Strike 2 and Dota. It’s impressive, but it helps that Palworld features co-op multiplayer. The player count has only climbed up since launch and, last I checked, has yet to drop at any point. With the weekend coming up, it wouldn’t be surprising if that number keeps growing.
It’s also become the top-selling game on Steam. Technically, the Steam Deck is still outselling it, but Palworld has pipped out everything else. Granted, it has the advantage of being new and thus more enticing than older games, but it’ll be interesting to see how long this momentum keeps up. Managing to get this high so soon should please Pocketpair and place Palworld on the path to being profitable.
While Palworld garnered a reputation for being something of a meme thanks to its Pokémon with guns premise, the strong reception suggests there’s enjoyment to be found. User reviews are mostly positive, with several top ones complimenting its survival mechanics and just generally being impressed with its content.
It’s a shame there’s no way to check how well the Xbox version is performing by comparison, especially since it unfortunately lacks dedicated servers for multiplayer. This news being dropped just a day before launch irked players, but the good news is co-op is entirely possible on Xbox; you just can’t play with random people and are limited to parties of up to four players.
If you’re eager to see what all the fuss is about, Pocketpair is currently selling Palworld at a 10 percent discount for $26.99 until Jan. 25. If you’d rather not put money down for an early access build, there’s a free trial on Xbox as well.
