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.
