Feel free to tell those who told you that indie games are done and dusted to take a hike.
Pocket Pair’s creature hunting game, Palworld, continues to blow past expectations, especially on Steam, collecting well over an estimated $216 million in revenue as it sells more than 8 million copies in less than 6 days. This astounding total makes Palworld part of a growing list of non-AAA titles that rake in both accolades and finances, sending a message to developers complaining that making video games have become impossibly expensive: big profits need not come as a result of absurd financial investments.
Palworld’s turnout continues to buck trends, eschewing common sense and proving fun games will always sell.
#Palworld has sold over 8 million copies in less than 6 days!
Thank you very much!!
As stated previously, we continue to work at full-speed on addressing bugs and issues!
Thanks for your support!#Pocketpair pic.twitter.com/4PLB1J4CYH— Palworld (@Palworld_EN) January 25, 2024
Much like Alan Wake 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3, two of last year’s most critically acclaimed titles, Palworld was made on a relatively low budget. While Pocketpair was willing to dig deep into its pockets to see Palworld through to completion, it ultimately cost the developers only a billion yen to release it as an Early Access title, which is less than $7 million – an amount of money that it has made back many times over already.
Record-shattering” is an appropriate description for Palworld as it becomes a full-blown phenomenon, with millions of players spreading the good word that something other than a AAA title can deliver this much fun and excitement in a budget-friendly package.
The success has caught Pocketpair off-guard. In its roadmap announcement, the developers confirmed that its primary focus is on fixing the game and making sure that it works for everybody. It’s only after it has addressed the game’s most critical issues that it will add features like PvP, more endgame content, and performance parity between the Xbox and Steam versions – a common pain point as the Xbox version is shared across the PC Game Pass, Xbox Game Pass, and Microsoft Store.
The question now is whether Pocketpair can keep the momentum going. It’s worth pointing out that the word of mouth feeds itself – the habit of spreading the word and sharing the news with friends is crucial. However, Pocketpair is facing a crisis soon: The Pokémon Company’s promise to investigate the allegations of copyright infringement. Palworld, filled with creatures that closely resembles Pokémon, has already drawn criticism for its AI use and blatant plagiarism.
Pocketpair insists that it did not use AI and copy anything, with most accusations already being proven false. But, The Pokémon Company, partly owned by Nintendo, is a different beast entirely.
For now, Pocketpair can celebrate Palworld’s most recent milestone. However, a real test awaits as Nintendo’s army of lawyers threaten to shut everything down should they find any solid legal ground for a lawsuit.
