Palworld, the January phenomenon, kept adding new users to Steam every day and broke records for the most concurrent users every other day. But then, the game lost 97% of its users – after just two and a half months of being available on the platform in early access. That sounds scary. Their current player count hovers between 60,000 and 70,000, and they once reached and held onto the 2 million player mark. The game is still included in the Game Pass subscription, but this rise and fall serves to highlight the success of the game on Steam—after all, it’s nothing we haven’t seen a few times before.
It is clear that Palworld cannot be written out, even with the significant decline in participants. Less than a month after the release, in February, Pocketpair studio developers observed and commented on the diminishing numbers of new players, as well as the waning interest of those who were already playing. However, they also made the decision not to rush anything and carried on with the fixes and planned new content. After a few days, they announced that the game has crossed the 25 million player mark – 15 million on Steam and 10 million on Xbox – but the initial excitement surrounding this remarkable achievement started to wane.
The graphs and data of the game on SteamDB show that the number of concurrent players started to drop during mid-February, when it was still at about 500,000. By the beginning of March, it was down to about 200,000. During the course of the month, the graphs showed between 60,000 and 70,000 users.
Palworld may not achieve these kinds of figures in its final form, but none can dispute its illustrious beginnings and achievements. The game is currently only available in early access, so there will be plenty more news and updates available in the future to entice players to return. Since Palworld is not a live service game, players do not presently need to login every day in order to avoid missing anything.
Why did Palword lose so many users?
There may be various reasons why Palword has lost so many users. PocketPair CEO and Palworld creator Takuro Mizobe said: “It is okay that players go and play other games, in the meantime, we are preparing tons of new content”. Palword is still in early access, so there’s lots of content we can expect. Mizobe also mentioned in a previous interview that Palword has lots of functions that haven’t been implemented into the game and all graphics are in provisional material status.
The Future of Palworld
If you play Palword and are looking for some updates, the creators have shared that a big update is expected to come out this summer. This update promises new bosses, pals, building and weapons. There should be a new island that nobody has ever seen before. This update should launch during the Summer of 2024. Since the players are still leaving the game, this update may bring lots of new players and also bring some people back. This will be the first big content update in Palword’s history.
About Palword
In the multiplayer sandbox game Palworld, users construct and run their own houses and farms while tending to a variety of adorable “Pal” animals. These Pals are used for farming, fighting, transporting, and other tasks. The game focuses on engaging with Pals and creating an environment that supports their growth and well-being, while also incorporating aspects of strategy, simulation, and building games.
Palworld was a big instant hit, when it launched in early access on January 19, 2024. The game originally launched on Steam and Xbox, and is expected to get Switch and Playstation versions in the future.
