2024’s biggest game so far, Palworld, has made history every day that it’s been available to play since its Xbox-exclusive launch on January 19. Now, the only question is whether it can be more massive than it already is.
It’s impossible to estimate just how high the ceiling for Palworld can get, which arrived on Xbox Series S/X, Steam, and Game Pass, as an Early Access title. The Pokémon-like game had generated buzz ahead of its release, becoming known as “Pokémon with Guns” among audiences. But no one could’ve expected it to become a colossal hit.
Could it reach 4 million concurrent players on Steam? It’s possible if not an eventuality. We’re still heading to Palworld’s second official weekend, which means that more players will have more time on their hands to play. It will reach the 2.5 million mark soon enough. Afterwards, 3 million and, possibly, even 3.5, are just a stone’s throw away. If that happens, 4 million peak players is a real possibility.
The record for the most concurrent players on Steam is held by PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, which first came out in 2017. The game that popularized the battle royale genre reached 1.5 million players six months into its Early Access period, peaking at 3.2 million players on January 2018 soon after its full launch. Unfortunately, PUBG hasn’t reached the same heights since. But it still attracts roughly half a million players on Steam, which is enough to place it among the platform’s most popular titles.
Ironically, both PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Palworld followed similar trajectories, albeit Palworld rode a much bigger rocket ship towards success given how fast it’s climbing up the charts.
Early Access titles don’t generate much hype. 2024’s GOTY winner, Baldur’s Gate 3, remained in Early Access for nearly three years from October 2020 until its release in 2023. In comparison, PUBG only skyrockted in popularity after five months. Meanwhile, Palworld was only hours old when Pocket Pair, the game’s developers, had to call an “emergency meeting” with Epic Games to help it handle the influx of players.
After welcoming a million players, several millions more have flocked to play Palworld. Now, it has sold over 8 million copies in 6 days, putting it firmly in the same category as 2022’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and 2013’s Grand Theft Auto V.
Of course, the road to making a billion or so in revenue can only get tougher for Palworld. Nintendo has its eyes set on Palworld after presumably receiving millions of emails from “concerned” citizens about the game’s potential copyright infringement of Pokémon. Although concerns about Palworld’s AI use remain unfounded (one of its staunch naysayers have already admitted to making up stuff), it feels like it’s only a matter of time before Nintendo finds something solid to stand on in the court of law. If that happens, Palworld could go from “game-changer” to “flash in a pan” overnight.
Potential legal squabbles aside, there’s no denying Palworld is in rarified air with its success and it might not be done climbing further up the sales charts.
At the moment, gamers have little else to look forward to beyond the weekend. Tekken 8 is a big deal, but it’s a fighting game. As popular as Tekken is, it has never catered to casual audiences. This means those interested in playing Palworld will still be playing Palworld for the foreseeable future.
As long as Pocket Pair sticks to its promised roadmap and hits the necessary milestones (all the while avoiding any legal troubles), Palworld could be the first and only game to reach 4 million concurrent players on Steam.
