Palworld has achieved another noteworthy milestone, attracting over 19 million players within just 13 days since its launch on January 19th, 2024. Developed by Pocketpair, the game is an innovative multiplayer adventure RPG that has quickly gained popularity, with over 2 million sales within the first 24 hours of its release.

The game stands out for its unique blend of multiplayer survival-crafting and adventure RPG elements, diverging from the standard Pokémon-inspired games. It's described as "Pokémon with guns," a tagline that has resonated universally and contributed to its surge in popularity.

Having launched on both Steam and Xbox about two weeks ago, the majority of players, 63% or 12 million are opting for the Steam. If players paid full price for Palworld’s early access launch, Pocket Pair’s Steam revenue totals nearly $360 million. With a reported budget of under $7 million (¥1 billion), Pocket Pair’s margins are astronomical on Steam alone.

Steam vs Xbox

While Steam remains the preferred platform for the majority, 7 million gamers are still playing Palworld on Xbox. However, specific details about how many accessed the title through Game Pass are currently undisclosed. Xbox proudly highlights Palworld as the largest third-party launch for Game Pass and the most-played third-party day-one release through cloud gaming with Game Pass Ultimate.

Palworld's momentum seems unstoppable, with Pocket Pair previously revealing the game's achievement of selling over 7 million copies in the first five days, averaging an impressive 1.4 million copies per day. The latest figures indicate a slight surge in this daily average, reaching 1.46 million copies, reflecting sustained and robust player engagement.

According to Steam sales data, approximately 36% of players are based in China, while 21% are from the United States. Surprisingly, only 2.5% come from Japan, the birthplace of Pokémon IP. Notably, there is a significant correlation between Palworld players and those who have previously engaged with Monster Hunter: World, Elden Ring, and Risk of Rain 2, according to Simon Carless of GameDiscoverCo.

Pokémon IP

Amidst the celebration, Pocket Pair faces potential legal complications as The Pokémon Company expresses concerns about intellectual property rights. The "Pokémon with guns" comparisons have prompted an investigation into possible infringements.

Palworld's journey serves as a testament to the power of viral moments and word-of-mouth marketing, propelling an unfinished game with a modest budget to unprecedented success. In celebration, Pocket Pair is rumored to be introducing an NFT collection, enabling players to earn in-game rewards and exclusive Palworld merchandise.

As Palworld continues to capture the gaming community's attention, Pocket Pair's success story unfolds with an intriguing blend of achievements, challenges, and the promise of more exciting developments on the horizon.