Is Palworld a “dead game”? Who cares, says the game’s developer

Enlarge / If you enjoyed taking out adorable, if dangerous, widdle cweatures with an assault rifle after a while, Palworld's team wants you to know that's normal and cool. (credit: Pocketpair)

Palworld's head of community has a radical idea: Stop caring about how many people are playing a game at the same time as you. It's pitched mostly at developers and games media, but John Buckley also wants players to let go of the "dead game" mentality.

"Who cares if there's only five people playing it? Just enjoy yourself. Just enjoy games. I don't think it needs to be any more complex than that," Buckley said in an interview on the Going Indie YouTube channel.

The people at Palworld developer Pocketpair, in particular, would have reason for panic, if they subscribed to the mentality that active online players are the key benchmark for modern gaming. The game launched into Early Access in January 2024 at rocket speed, selling 5 million copies and reaching 1.3 million concurrent Steam players, surpassing Elden Ring and Baldur's Gate 3. By February 1, the game had sold 19 million between Xbox and Steam, and was the biggest third-party game launch yet on Xbox's Game Pass service.