A Year After Launch, Palworld Hits New Record Of Over 32 Million Players

Pocketpair has announced that its hit open-world monster-hunting game Palworld has had over 32 million players across all platforms in the first year since it was released in Early Access in January 2024. The developer has shown great appreciation for the community's support. 

Palworld's achievement has been recorded in game industry history: it sold one million copies within eight hours of launch, two million in 24 hours, and 25 million players in merely a month. It is one of the most-played games on Steam, with a peak concurrent player count of over 2.1 million, ranking third when it comes to an all-time peak, with PUBG being the top at 3.2 million concurrent players and Black Myth: Wukong with 2.4 million. 

But what's behind all these shining numbers is the ongoing legal battles with Nintendo, who accused the developer of patent infringement with the gameplay elements of throwing balls to summon pals. 

Nintendo tries to win the lawsuit by getting as many patents globally as possible. However, their attempts haven't always been successful. Recently, 22 out of 23 claims from Nintendo's latest application were rejected by examiners. 

Besides working on game development, Pocketpair recently established a publishing brand, Pocketpair Publishing, which will ship a new horror game in collaboration with SURGENT STUDIOS.