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PalWorld’s Cinderella story continues with developer Pocket Pair announcing that over 19 million gamers have played the survival monster-catching game since it launched on January 19.
PalWorld launched on both Steam and Xbox nearly two weeks ago. The majority of Palworld players — 12 million or 63% — are using Steam. Assuming all 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.
The remaining seven million players are accessing the title via Xbox, though it’s unclear how many acquired the title via Game Pass. According to Xbox, Palworld is the biggest third-party launch for Game Pass. Additionally, the title is the most-played third-party day one release via cloud gaming with Game Pass Ultimate.
The title’s momentum isn’t slowing down. Pocket Pair previously announced that Palworld sold 7-plus million copies in five days for an average of 1.4 million copies per day. With today’s sales figures, that average is up to 1.46 million copies per day.
Pocket Pair has a lot to celebrate, but the “Pokemon with guns” comparisons did not escape Nintendo’s notice. The Pokemon Company issued a statement that confirms the famously litigious publisher is investigating potential infringements on its intellectual property rights.
Despite this potential speed bump, Palworld demonstrates that viral moments and word-of-mouth can catapult an unfinished game with a small budget to massive success. To celebrate, Pocket Pair has launched an NFT collection where players can earn in-game rewards and Palworld merchandise.
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