Palworld has only been out a month and it’s already solidified itself as a runaway success. The game has been setting records left and right, with eight million copies sold in less than six days, becoming the most-played third-party game on Xbox Game Pass, and climbing to the top of the Steam charts. Still, some people online have pointed out that the game has seen a drop-off in its active player base, and on Wednesday, a developer responded by voicing support for people who dropped the game.
A lead community manager at Palworld developer Pocketpair, who goes by “Bucky” online and in the game’s credits, said that it’s “fine” to take breaks from games, and that players don’t “need to feel bad” about it via X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.
“Palworld, like many games before it, isn’t in a position to pump out massive amounts of new content on a weekly basis,” Bucky wrote. “New content will come, and it’s going to be awesome, but these things take a little bit of time. There are so many amazing games out there to play; you don’t need to feel guilty about hopping from game to game. If you are still playing Palworld, we love you. If you’re no longer playing Palworld, we still love you, and we hope you’ll come back for round 2 when you’re ready.”
With Palworld quickly approaching the 1-month mark, it’s interesting to look back at my own thoughts for launch.
In May of 2023, I was convinced that Palworld could break the 50,000 player mark. Anything above that seemed unobtainable though, and I certainly never expected it to… pic.twitter.com/1rZaV30QON
— Bucky | Palworld & Craftopia (@Bucky_cm) February 14, 2024
Japanese indie studio Pocketpair released Palworld in early access on Jan. 19 to Windows PC and Xbox Games Pass. The game became a hit sensation on its first day of release with over 1 million copies sold. Interest continued to climb for roughly a week, but then players started to dip off. According to Steam Charts, Palworld has seen an estimated 25% drop in the game’s average number of players over the past 30 days. The dip prompted coverage from media outlets and spurred further discussion from fans, which is when Bucky jumped in.
The Pocketpair community manager called discourse about the dip in the player base “lazy” and expressed disbelief at the number of players who have taken interest in the game at this point. “In May of 2023, I was convinced that Palworld could break the 50,000 player mark. Anything above that seemed unobtainable though, and I certainly never expected it to reach into the millions,” Bucky said.
It’s normal for the number of players to decrease following an initial period after release. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, the game with the highest number of concurrent players ever on Steam, saw a 12.23% dip in its active player base roughly two months after hitting its peak. That hasn’t stopped it from being one of the most popular games on the platform more than six years after its initial release. It’s also common for interest to wax and wane in general. For example, the number of active users playing a game like Fortnite can fluctuate between millions of players, depending on interest in a particular update.
In the end, any dip in its player base doesn’t take away from the massive audience Palworld has already cultivated. At time of publication, Steam Charts says that the game still has more than 300,000 active players. That number is nothing to scoff at and doesn’t include players on other platforms. If anything, the fact that it’s still so big just illustrates its newfound popularity at large as even banal topics like the number of active players spur conversation online.
