Palworld updates will add PvP arenas, Raid bosses, new islands, server transfers and Steam-Xbox crossplay
24.01.2024 - 12:37
/ rockpapershotgun.com
/ Will
Forthcoming Palworld updates will add PvP multiplayer arenas, raid bosses, Xbox feature improvements, Steam-Xbox crossplay, extra islands, server transfers, new Pals and new technologies, according to an early access roadmap just released by developers Pocketpair. The monster-catching survival sim continues to set concurrent play records on Steam, and Pocketpair are presently focussed on fixing bugs. Beyond that, though, the sky appears to be the limit, as you might expect of a game that shifted a million copies in eight hours. In particular, Pocketpair seem markedly more confident about the odds of adding PvP to the game, having downplayed the idea in interviews before release.
All that's from this Xitter post, in which the developers thank players for bearing with them as they sort out the early access build's more significant glitches. "Sales have far exceeded the development team's expectations, and we are currently experiencing many problems due to excessive access congestion, among other challenges," it reads. "We will prioritize improving this issue first, and then move on to implementing new in-game features."
[The Future of Palworld]
We would like to share with you our roadmap for Palworld.
Sales have far exceeded the development team's expectations, and we are currently experiencing many problems due to excessive access congestion, among other challenges.
We will prioritize… pic.twitter.com/UKD2HFRaG4
Right now, the developers are trying to patch the more egregious bugs, including an endless loading screen issue and the rolling back of your world date. After that, they'll get started on "key configuration improvements" and improvements to base Pal AI and pathing. I've encountered a few pathing issues myself - one of my Chikipis keeps getting stuck under the house, bless him.
Once the bigger technical flaws and quality-of-life rejigs have been addressed, Pocketpair will start thinking about larger additions to the game. Here's their current to-do list, which may not be written in order of priority:
PvP
Raid Bosses (End-Game Content)
Pal Arena (PvP for Pals)
Steam-Xbox Crossplay
Various Xbox Feature Improvements
Server Transfers and Migrations
Improvements to the Building System
New islands, Pals, Bosses, and Technologies
In an Automaton interview from before Palworld's launch, Pocketpair's CEO Takuro Mizobe estimated that the survival sim is currently "about 60% complete". He added that "the important points that remain are how we're going to implement PvP and to what extent we're going to release new content. We're also prepared to add new game functions, so we will observe user reactions and decide what to prioritize based on what everyone wants."
At the time of that interview,