Palworld Reaches 40 Million Players Ahead of Its Biggest Update Yet

Palworld, the creature-collecting survival game that took the gaming world by surprise in early 2024, has crossed 40 million players worldwide. Developer Pocketpair announced the milestone Tuesday, just two days before the game’s biggest-ever update goes live.

For those who have been living under a rock since the launch frenzy, Palworld blends monster-taming mechanics — think Pokémon meets survival crafting — with open-world exploration and base building. Players capture creatures called Pals and put them to work fighting, constructing buildings, farming crops, and more. It hit early access on Steam on January 19, 2024, priced at ¥108 in China, and exploded past 25 million players within its first month.

The 1.0 full release, landing July 10, is a genuine overhaul rather than a routine patch. Pocketpair is bringing in a wave of entirely new Pal species and a new region to explore. The combat system is getting a full rework. Water-based construction is being unlocked, which should make base-building more flexible and interesting. There is also a proper story campaign with coherent questlines to guide players through the world, which the early access version notably lacked. The developer describes it as a full-scale renovation touching nearly every system in the game.

Pocketpair executive John “Bucky” Buckley told attendees at GDC 2026 back in March that the studio’s goal for Palworld 1.0 was to position the game as a standout in the survival-crafting genre. With 40 million players already on board, the game does not have much left to prove. But the 1.0 update will test whether it can sustain momentum beyond its early-access hype cycle.