Palworld has sold over 15 million copies on Steam, 10 million players on Xbox (Biggest 3rd party Game Pass launch in history)

[Shemhazai]

What features is the Game Pass version lacking compared to the Steam release?

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As far as I can tell from what I noticed trying both:
- DLSS, which makes a BIG difference in performance. I went from a bit of a choppy start on my 2070 Super on medium settings for the Game Pass version to pretty much a perfect framerate on high with DLSS Performance mode.
- Dedicated Server options
- General balancing. In the Xbox client, some recipes are on different tiers, the quest requirements (basically a guiding hand telling you what to aim for building) are different, and if I remember correctly, the updated client on Steam lets you craft 3 arrows at a time vs the Xbox version only crafting 1.

I didn't get far into the Xbox version before deciding to switch to Steam. Decided pretty quickly that it was worth the £20 and didn't want to commit to playing an out of date version.

 

[entremet]

I keep thinking the title is about Europe lol.

 

[Bengraven]

It's really super fun so far.

We got bored of Lego Fortnite after a couple weeks but this has a similar vibe but with Pokemon that you can eat. lol

 

[BBboy20]

This game feels like a giant streamer bait.

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The game simply looks like lunacy. A fever dream that one would be tempted to try out.

But million copies sold lunacy? I would have expected 1 million downloads through Game Pass, not credit card charges.

 

[eonden]

The game simply looks like lunacy. A fever dream that one would be tempted to try out.

But million copies sold lunacy? I would have expected 1 million downloads through Game Pass, not credit card charges.

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PC gaming market is huge. Even more for survival games.

 

[Kusagari]

The game simply looks like lunacy. A fever dream that one would be tempted to try out.

But million copies sold lunacy? I would have expected 1 million downloads through Game Pass, not credit card charges.

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This game has been memed to hell for a year+ thanks to the Pokemon with guns premise. It's not surprising to me in the least it exploded on Steam.

 

[ggez007]

It's a good streamer game

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I do want to push back on this sentiment a bit cause it almost makes it feel like the game isn't great but streamers are propping it up. After playing for about 9 hours though I think they really have a fun foundation (and I'm just playing solo right now- gonna play with friends later) and if dlc / content comes quickly I could legit see the game sticking around and building a community. Game is legit addicting to me as a life long pokemon fan.

 

[Aaron D.]

Super-happy for the dev.

I love success stories that come out of left field.

 

[Melody Shreds]

I'm all for a success of a game similar to Pokémon. Even it gives Gamefreak 1% of motivation to do better for Pokémon it's good for the fans.

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It's a survival game, not really like pokemon at all tbh.

 

[asd202]

If this game remains popular I wonder if Nintendo will allow it on Switch 2. Would be funny.

 

[InspectorJones]

Wonder what the game's CCU will peak at this weekend. Me and my brothers are about to try it out for the first time now (+3 additional sales too)

Also, this news and game give additional context about the news of Game Service Subscriptions are low. Thiis game is available day 1 on Gamepass and still has sold this many copies is crazy. And/or reveals how bad Gamepass is on PC currently.

 

[werezompire]

I'll be shocked if there's not a lawsuit incoming. All of the monster designs I've seen in the screenshots look to be either blatant copies of specific Pokemon designs or the result of someone putting in "Give me a new Pokemon" into an AI art generator.

 

[dedhead54]

I hadn't even heard of this game until around 9pm last night when I saw Andy Cortez streaming it. Kinda wild.

It looked decently fun. I'll probably download via GamePass.

 

[A.J.]

People need to chill about the "Pokemon will improve after seeing this game" stuff. I doubt Gamefreak will even look this games way.

However we can still enjoy the humor of this game being more polished in early access than a recent Pokemon game at launch.

 

[Bardeh]

The 'pokemon with guns' thing has definitely helped get some buzz going around this game, but the true appeal is mostly it being a new survival game. The genre is huge on PC and people who like survival games are extremely thirsty for new stuff.

 

[JBoogieG]

I didn't get far into the Xbox version before deciding to switch to Steam. Decided pretty quickly that it was worth the £20 and didn't want to commit to playing an out of date version.

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Wait, it's only that much? Shoot, that's well within the realms of some people's 'Eh, why not, I'll give this a random shot.' range. Heck, might buy a copy myself.

 

[Fj0823]

People need to chill about the "Pokemon will improve after seeing this game" stuff. I doubt Gamefreak will even look this games way.

However we can still enjoy the humor of this game being more polished in early access than a recent Pokemon game at launch.

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At launch? I take it you hadn't heard about the 0 FPS puddles of Doom in the DLC

 

[Lightjolly]

Need some steam deck players to tell me how it runs there

 

[Ian UK]

Black screens on the gamepass version for me (not straight away but after accepting some terms at the start), might download the steam version tomorrow as it sounds like a better build.

 

[Deleted member 3924]

I'll be shocked if there's not a lawsuit incoming. All of the monster designs I've seen in the screenshots look to be either blatant copies of specific Pokemon designs or the result of someone putting in "Give me a new Pokemon" into an AI art generator.

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Its blatant, but I don't think you can really sue over something that looks (sometimes very) similar? It is surprising that none of it seems to be satire, or at least its not smart enough to come across as satire, so the notpokeballs and legally distinct creatures just seem like an attention grab. And I guess it worked.

 

[YorkshireDaveUK]

Its blatant, but I don't think you can really sue over something that looks (sometimes very) similar? It is surprising that none of it seems to be satire, or at least its not smart enough to come across as satire, so the notpokeballs and legally distinct creatures just seem like an attention grab. And I guess it worked.

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It's true that some will have bought it because "Pokemon with guns, lol", but it's actually a pretty fun game. I've played it quite a bit and i'd say it knows where it's inspirations lie, and it does have fun with it.

 

[Bufbaf]

This game is just freaking cool. What a fun world to explore.

 

[Valkerion]

Game looks neat, not into the base building nonsense but the rest of it looks pretty fun. Definitely not an early access type though. I'll watch from the sides for now.

 

[Rosur]

Played it for the last 4 hrs or so and got to level 16 (game pass) so yeah this game is a survival game with monsters that you capture and nothing like a Pokemon game, the only similarity really is you capture monsters that take after Pokemon designs. Then you use them to automate the resources while you start on the next tier etc.
So far I'm enjoying it solo and probably carry on playing so not surprised its doing good numbers with how it was marketed. Also reminds me of V-Rising a bit.

 

[OldDirtyGamer]

This game is pretty confusing as someone who hasnt played a game like this. And it keeps saying do this and press _ button but doesnt list a button. Finally built my sphere thing and the game crashed lol. Oh well ill try again later. No dlss in GP version either.

 

[Fj0823]

Its blatant, but I don't think you can really sue over something that looks (sometimes very) similar? It is surprising that none of it seems to be satire, or at least its not smart enough to come across as satire, so the notpokeballs and legally distinct creatures just seem like an attention grab. And I guess it worked.

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Yep. If there was any legal grounds for a lawsuit. This game wouldn't have seen the light of day.

 

[Deleted member 12823]

It looks exactly like Ark. I'll definitely try it

 

[Perzeval]

Well done

 

[Deleted member 3924]

Yep. If there was any legal grounds for a lawsuit. This game wouldn't have seen the light of day.

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Its not just Pokemon either. Im sure Nintendo lawyers would have done something by now.

 

[Book One]

Can't get multiplayer to work on game pass. Bummer :(

 

[Lost Heaven]

I expected Pokemon with guns, i got a survival game instead. Nevertheless i can definitely see stuff here that i would like on a Pokemon game, mainly the graphics and the great looking open-world. Not for me but i can see why its successful and fun. Is there any other "Pokemon-like" that has great monster design like this game? Even tho' many of the designs are ripoffs, they look really good, which is the main thing i find lacking in most Pokemon inspired games.

 

[CountAntonio]

I'm wondring if it will steal some of Enshrouded's thunder. Though this seems more Ark where Enshrouded is more valheim.

 

[Vigilante Joker]

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Lmao

 

[Harmen]

I don't even think it looks all that great, but the mainline Pokemon games have been so bad looking that I would absolutely love one to even look a little bit like this.

 

[Dyle]

The people have spoken, slavery is 2024's hot new game mechanic

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

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I fucking lol'd

 

[SwitchOverGaming]

Good to see the creature collector genre is growing beyond pokemon.

Wished cassette beasts got more attention like this.

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Having just played through Cassette Beasts, I agree. Great game with a crazy good soundtrack.

 

[Mocha Joe]

The game simply looks like lunacy. A fever dream that one would be tempted to try out.

But million copies sold lunacy? I would have expected 1 million downloads through Game Pass, not credit card charges.

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Its true, the 180 Million MAU users on Steam are just prankster grandmas and uncles who don't buy games

 

[Mocha Joe]

I'll be shocked if there's not a lawsuit incoming. All of the monster designs I've seen in the screenshots look to be either blatant copies of specific Pokemon designs or the result of someone putting in "Give me a new Pokemon" into an AI art generator.

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I mean, Pokemon are based on real life animals, objects, mythos, etc lol. Some are blatant copies of said thing.

Some of the Pokemon designs are literally just "existing animal but make it <insert typing>". Squirtle is literally a turtle but is water. I am unsure how Pokemon monster designs are any different than this and something on the grounds of a lawsuit.

 

[Anno]

I'm wondring if it will steal some of Enshrouded's thunder. Though this seems more Ark where Enshrouded is more valheim.

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I'm actually curious about this, too. They seem to be different niches of survival game but man it seems like next week is a bad time to launch a game even mildly similar.

Also, the game peaking 70k+ higher this evening (US) than at prime Steam time makes me think this is going to be a potentially crazy weekend number.

 

[werezompire]

I mean, Pokemon are based on real life animals, objects, mythos, etc lol. Some are blatant copies of said thing.

Some of the Pokemon designs are literally just "existing animal but make it <insert typing>". Squirtle is literally a turtle but is water. I am unsure how Pokemon monster designs are any different than this and something on the grounds of a lawsuit.

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There's a difference between say a wolf-based character in Pokemon and a wolf-based character in Digimon. If you're even slightly familiar with either franchise, you'd be able to look at the two and go "That's the Pokemon one, that's the Digimon one." Contrast that to this where it looks like they just fed an AI art program prompts like "Draw Piplup" and "Draw Bulbasaur."

 

[Tagyhag]

Its not just Pokemon either. Im sure Nintendo lawyers would have done something by now.

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Lol I wonder if Nintendo could actually sue for a spiked shell.

I doubt it, there's other games that have spiked shells.

 

[RockmanBN]

Game already has a peak concurrent player count of 450k and still rising. It's about to pass Fallout 4's record soon.

 

[CountAntonio]

I'm actually curious about this, too. They seem to be different niches of survival game but man it seems like next week is a bad time to launch a game even mildly similar.

Also, the game peaking 70k+ higher this evening (US) than at prime Steam time makes me think this is going to be a potentially crazy weekend number.

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Yeah. I think enshrouded was well on its way to be a massive hit since there was really happening anytime around it's launch and this game came out with the popularity, streams and now strong reviews that I'm not sure how many people are really gonna try and commit to a second survival game so close to the last. Feel bummed for Keen games but hopefully it still does well and reviews strongly.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

+1 on Steam today. I saw that the Microsoft Store/Xbox one was behind in version and features so I got in on Steam. Runs beautifully on my PC, now I'm installing it on my Rog Ally.

 

[Mur2thetaugh]

Good to see the creature collector genre is growing beyond pokemon.

Wished cassette beasts got more attention like this.

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Installed cassette beasts a couple of weeks ago. I totally agree with you.

 

[Larrikin]

Guess you havent played any of the last mainline games. Ambition wasnt the issue with them.

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Maybe you haven't played the last mainline games. They are the bare bones absolute minimum with a bunch of "technically features" that aren't fleshed out or utilised in any meaningful way

 

[BobLoblaw]

Game already has a peak concurrent player count of 450k and still rising. It's about to pass Fallout 4's record soon.

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It's got the perfect impulse price, has features that a lot of PC gamers enjoy (DLSS even), and is built from genres that people enjoy. Wouldn't be surprised to see it hit 600k this weekend after more word of mouth spreads.

 

[Stencil]

So this game is actually good? Wow if so. May have to dust off my XSS and startup gamepass again to check it out, if so.

 

[Faiyaz]

Maybe you haven't played the last mainline games. They are the bare bones absolute minimum with a bunch of "technically features" that aren't fleshed out or utilised in any meaningful way

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No, that's quite factually wrong, at least for the last mainline game before Scarlet/Violet, which is Pokemon Legends Arceus. And ambition wasn't one of the problems for Scarlet/Violet, amongst the fuckton it actually has.