Palworld developer advises fans to play other games while they wait for new content

15.02.2024 - 17:27 / videogameschronicle.com / Shuntaro Furukawa / Chris Scullion / Takuro Mizobe / New Content

A member of the Palworld development team has advised fans to try playing other games while they wait for content updates.

The game’s community manager, who goes by the username ‘Bucky’, addressed recent reports that the game’s player base has dropped, calling them “lazy”.

In recent days, the game’s average daily concurrent players has dropped to around 500,000, which still puts it near the top of SteamDB‘s list of most played games but is notably lower than the 2.1 million peak it managed shortly after launch.

In a lengthy post on X, Bucky said the drop is entirely fine because Palworld isn’t the sort of game that is regularly giving players new content.

Instead, he advised that players should be comfortable with playing something instead of Palworld, and returning to it later when new content arrives.

“It has taken years to get to this point, and Palworld only really begins from here,” Bucky said. “Everyone is working hard to fix the issues and prepare new content and Pals. Some of you may have had your fun over the last three weeks and found yourself putting the game down. That is fine.

“This emerging ‘Palworld has lost X% of its player base’ discourse is lazy, but it’s probably also a good time to step in and reassure those of you capable of reading past a headline that it is fine to take breaks from games. You don’t need to feel bad about that.

“Palworld, like many games before it, isn’t in a position to pump out massive amounts of new content on a weekly basis. New content will come, and it’s going to be awesome, but these things take a little bit of time.

“There are so many amazing games out there to play – you don’t need to feel guilty about hopping from game to game.

“If you are still playing Palworld, we love you. If you’re no longer playing Palworld, we still love you, and we hope you’ll come back for round 2 when you’re ready. Play lots of games, try different genres, and frequently flick through indie libraries to find hidden gems.”

Since launching into early access on PC and Xbox last month, Palworld has become a huge breakout success – by February 1 it had sold 12 million copies on Steam and had 7 million players on Xbox.

However, the survival game’s success ignited discourse aroundperceived similarities between its character designs and those of the Pokémon games, with many accusing it of plagiarism.

Both The Pokémon Company and Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa have said they’re looking into the situation and determining whether Palworld infringes on its IP rights.