Palworld has become an astonishing success, shooting up to the top of Steam’s most-played games list and selling millions of copies. Released in early access form on Steam, as well as on Xbox and Windows PC, on January 19th, Palworld has already broken records and set new standards in the gaming industry. It has surpassed even CD Projekt’s Cyberpunk 2077 to set the fifth highest peak concurrent player count with 1,291,967 online at the same time. The game has also sold over five million copies in just three days, with 86,000 copies selling per hour.
The game has faced some controversy, however, as Pokemon fans have raised concerns about the striking similarities between Palworld’s Pals and the Pokémon characters themselves. Additionally, the Xbox version of the game lags behind the Steam version in terms of key features and updates. Despite these issues, Palworld’s enormous launch has seen its servers struggling to keep up with the demand. However, even with these controversies, Palworld’s success on Steam is undeniable, as it has become the most-played game, surpassing gaming giants like Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and PUBG.
Palworld’s amazing success comes with a few hiccups, but is undeniable and unprecedented. It has become the most-played Japanese-developed game ever on Steam and has set new records for peak concurrent players on the platform. The game’s popularity and sales have surpassed even the fastest-selling first-party PS4 exclusive, despite being day-one available on Game Pass. Overall, Palworld is proving to be a game-changer in the gaming industry, but the controversies around the game and some issues with different versions still persist. Nevertheless, Palworld’s influence and appeal cannot be denied.