In an interview with ASCII Japan, Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe confirmed that the Palworld business model was not destined to change anytime soon. A few early rumors had suggested that the Palworld model could adopt a live-service format to extend the life of the game, but CEO Mizobe put those rumors to rest once and for all.
Despite the many benefits, such a switch could risk alienating the audience that the company has built up in the last year, and could ultimately hurt the game rather than benefit it in the long run. Now that a potential Palworld strategy shift has been denied, players can go back to making the most of the limited early access release they’ve been able to experience so far.
Image: Palworld
CEO Confirms That Palworld Business Model to Remain Unchanged
Open world, action-adventure game Palworld was released via Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview, on 19 January, 2024. Since then, we have seen extensive discussions on when the game will be available and how the nature of the game will evolve next.
For a game like Palworld, a live service model could very easily make the gamemakers a lot of money as there is room for constantly updating content with no real end-game. There are many comparisons that can be drawn between this game and Pokemon or Genshin Impact—including the ability to thrive the way those games do—but Palworld has a lot of unique elements that allow it to stand on its own.
Thankfully, the game developers have decided not to take the live-service route with Palword , keeping its business model unchanged. “When you think about it from a business perspective,” Mizobe had stated according to PCGamer, “making [Palworld] a live-service game would extend its lifespan and make it more stable in terms of profitability. However, the game was not initially designed with that approach in mind, so there would be many challenges involved in taking it down the live-service path.”
He also explained that Palworld was not free-to-play from the start and its buy-to-play strategy would have to be redesigned from scratch in order to fit the existing battle-pass-driven molds. This would greatly put its existing audience at risk and require the developer to reconfigure the nature of the game quite significantly in order to adapt.
The developers also hopped on to Twitter/X to clarify their stance on the F2P/GaaS approach, stating that the interview that had initiated all the rumors around Palworld’s model change was an older discussion where they had been in the midst of figuring out the future of the game.
“Palworld was never designed with that model in mind, and it would require too much work to adapt the game at this point. Additionally, we are very aware that this just isn’t what our players want, and we always put our players first.
We are still considering skins and DLC for Palworld in future as a means to support development, but we will discuss this with you all again as we get closer to that point. For now, our priority remains making Palworld the best game possible.”
Considering the failure of recent live-service games like Concord and Suicide Squad, its quite evident that gamers are very strongly against the live-serivce model. The popularity of some shooter games in this category remains a mystery and while many have tried to emulate the success of games like DOTA 2 and Fortnite, only some have succeeded. With all of the confusion out of the way, fans can be rest assured that Palworld will not be free-to-play.
When Will Palworld Get A Full Release?
The game’s limited early access release has resulted in extensive conversation around it, with vibrant hopes of a full release. Developer Pocket Pair, Inc. has a huge hit on its hands but they have left fans in the dark about when the game will make a full debut.
The company struck a deal with Sony recently, despite the lack of a PS5 port for the new game. The strangeness of the Palworld business deal aside, Sony will now play a big role in the marketing and merchandising of the contents of the game.
It’s likely we will see the game expand beyond the current Xbox and PC platforms, which is always a win for players. Many are hopeful that Palworld will see an early 2025 release but there is no evidence to indicate that this is indeed still the plan.
A mention of the game for the PS5 was also found on the Tokyo Game Show lineup, an event which is scheduled to take place between September 26 and 29. The game developers will have to provide an update of some sort during the event. While we could end up only seeing minor news or details that could take at least a year to unfold, it’s more likely that we’ll hear some substantial and immediate updates. The PS5 launch for the game could coincide with the event, but that may be an overly optimistic timeline. With the announcement of the PS5 Pro, many console users are otherwise preoccupied, but there will certainly be time on their schedule to enjoy a Palword post.
Regardless of what announcement they make, most fans are currently happy with the company and its decision to keep Palworld away from the live service model. As long as the company continues on its current track with regard to the quality of its content, the game will continue to be well received.