Palworld Not Going Free-to-Play: ‘This Just Isn’t What Our Players Want’

Palworld developer Pocketpair has said the survival crafting game dubbed “Pokémon with guns” isn’t going free-to-play despite comments from CEO Takuro Mizobe suggesting such a move was under discussion.

Pocketpair said on X/Twitter that the comments — with Mizobe saying that “making [Palworld] a live service game would extend its lifespan and make it more stable — were actually made months ago when the studio was considering different options. It has now decided definitively that Palworld will remain a pay-up-front game.

“This interview was conducted several months ago,” Palworld said. “At that time, we were still considering the best way forward for Palworld to create a long lasting game that continues to grow. We are still discussing this internally, as it is quite challenging to find the ideal path, but we have already decided that the free to play or games as a service approach is not suitable for us.

“Palworld was never designed with that model in mind, and it would require too much work to adapt the game at this point. Additionally, we are very aware that this just isn’t what our players want, and we always put our players first.”

Pocketpair said it is still considering live service elements like adding skins and other additional content to Palworld in the future but it will discuss this with players if and when the time comes.

“We apologize for any concern this may have caused, and we hope this clarifies our position,” Pocketpair concluded with. “Thank you for your continued support of Palworld.”

Palworld arrived in January 2024 and was instant hit despite complaints it was copying Pokémon in several of its monster designs.

It had reached more than 19 million players by the end of the month, having launched on Steam and Xbox where it went straight into Game Pass. And though many of its players could have arrived via Microsoft’s subscription service, Pocketpair made clear its numbers weren’t a fluke by announcing Palworld had sold 15 million copies on Steam after a month of sale.

In our 8/10 review, IGN said: “Palworld may crib quite a bit from Pokémon’s homework, but deep survival mechanics and a hilarious attitude make it hard to put down, even in Early Access.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.