It hasn't even been a full two days since the Xbox Developer Direct ended and basically blew open the doors to one of the most surprising releases in recent memory, Palworld.
Palworld, the latest game made by Pocket Pair, and, surprisingly enough, a new Xbox exclusive, has rocked gamers with its beautifully bleak world. Its initial announcement may have drawn plenty of traction, but its actual launch is what cemented it as a hit.
Not long after selling over a million copies within hours of launching, Palworld, as revealed by its developers, has tripled its sales in less than two days.
The combination of the internet being the internet, the power of word of mouth, and streamer influence, have worked wonders for Palworld. It's also the only noteworthy game that came out this week. Still, 3 million in 40 hours isn't just a great start, it's excellent if historic for a game whose main claim to fame was being a potential lawyer-magnet for Nintendo because it's basically an open-world take on the Pokemon formula but with guns.
What really separates Palworld is that it isn't just a goofy spin on Pokemon with the graphics of Breath of the Wild and the open-world gameplay of indie hits like Valheim. At its care, it's all of those and more. It takes ideas from some of the best games in recent years and blends them well together to create a new and compelling experience. This is much easier said than done in a genre as oversatured as survival crafting.