Palworld has been one of the standout successes of the year and, indeed, the gaming industry. Released in January, it sold over 25 million copies in its first month alone, making it the second most played game concurrently on Steam, only recently surpassed by Black Myth Wukong. It continues to maintain a very active community. Recently, Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe spoke about what the future could hold for the game, considering whether it will remain in its current paid format or shift towards a free-to-play model as a live service.
In an interview with ASCII.jp, Mizobe was asked about the long-term plans for Palworld. He candidly responded that decisions have yet to be made, explaining that while transitioning to a live service model could be beneficial for the company, the work required to make such a change might not be worth it. This is because the game was not originally designed for that type of business model.
“From a business perspective, converting the game to a live service would extend its lifespan and make it more stable in terms of profitability. However, the game was not initially designed with this approach in mind, so there would be many challenges to overcome to pursue a live service model”.
Transitioning to a live service might also mean becoming free-to-play, which could pose a problem since millions of people purchased the game at a starting price of nearly 30 euros.
“Palworld is a buy-to-play game, so it’s challenging to turn it into a live service from scratch” – the CEO’s words.
Lastly, it’s worth noting that trading cards for Palworld have recently been released on Steam.
