Summary
Despite rumors pointing toward the contrary,Palworld’sdevelopers, Pocketpair, have officially come out to announce that the breakout online multiplayer survival game will not be going free-to-play. It will also not shift to a Games as a Service model, either.
Instead,Palworld will remain a buy-to-play title.
The statement,which was released on Saturday, comes after rumors began swirling about Palworld’s future afteran interview between Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe and a Japanese publication was translated online. In that interview, Mizobe mulled the possibility of shifting Palworld into a free-to-play title with live-service elements as a means of extending the game’s lifespan, as well as increasing its profitability.
The Reported Interview Is Old, Per Pocketpair
As it turns out, though,according to Pocketpair, that specific interview was “conducted several months ago,” when the studio was considering all its options. However, in the time since, “we have already decided that the F2P/GaaS approach is not suitable for us.”
Per Pocketpair, “it would require too much work to adapt the game at this point.” That was something that Mizobe had noted in the dated interview, referencing the troubles that games, includingFall GuysandPUBGexperienced when making the shift.
The statement goes on to note that skins and future DLC are current considerations as a means to support development, though they will be discussed at a later date. “For now, our priority remains making Palworld the best game possible,” the statement concludes in part, with an added apology for any confusion.
Since its initial release earlier this year, Palworld has struggled to maintain a consistent playerbase.An all-time peak of 2,101,867 playershas since turnedinto a rolling 24-hour peak of just under 30,000 players, per SteamDB charts.
It’s obvious that some sort of shift needs to happen in order for the game to survive the long haul. Though, based off the statement, it’s abundantly clear that the shift won’t be towards free-to-play. Only time will tell if that gamble will pay off.
