Palworld has been on the market for just under a year now, and it will celebrate its first anniversary in January 2025. After seeing great success in this first frontier, fans are hopeful that Palworld will keep up the momentum into next year.
Palworld saw momentous success when it launched earlier this year, quickly becoming one of the year's most talked-about titles. Known colloquially as 'Pokemon with guns', the game became a huge hit among fans of Nintendo's critter-collecting darling—with many fans viewing it as a source of competition against a stagnant series. Amid ports, December's massive Feybreak update, and Nintendo's lawsuit against Pocketpair, Palworld has found itself in a whirlwind of chaos—both good and bad. 2025 will be an opportunity for fans to see just how much longevity this indie hit is able to muster, and how it will fare in the climate it found itself.
Why Palworld's New Spider-Man-Like Pal is a Big Deal
Palworld has recently been given a huge update, and it came with a new spider-like Pal whose abilities may make it a game-changer.
What Palworld Fans Can Look Forward To In 2025
Crossover With Terraria
Back in November, Pocketpair announced that Palworld would be crossing over with Terraria. Terraria, one of the most successful indie games of all time, is well known for crossing over with other indie titles and lending them a bit of its prestige. 2025 will be the year that this crossover gets off the ground, though the content coming from Palworld into Terraria, if any, remains unclear.
On the other hand, fans have already seen what Terraria will be bringing to Pocketpair's table. In a recent teaser, it was revealed to fans that the Meowmere sword will be coming to Palworld as a result of this crossover. In Terraria, this sword is an endgame weapon, dropped by the Moon Lord—that game's final boss. It's unknown whether the weapon will carry a similar status in Palworld, nor is it known how the weapon will be obtained. What is known, according to the same post that first showcased the Meowmere teaser, is that there'll be more to come.
Mac Port Release
Mobile isn't the only platform getting a Palworld port. In a press release from November 22nd, Pocketpair announced that the game's upcoming Mac port would be having a delay. Rather than arriving on November 26th, the Mac version of Palworld will now arrive on February 27, 2025. While it's not the most headline-grabbing port, with 2024's PS5 edition being a far bigger story, this will definitely help expand the game's horizons to a wider audience.
Potential Mobile Port Release
Krafton, the company that owns PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, revealed earlier in 2024 that it will be working on the mobile port for Palworld. No release date has been confirmed for this port, but it's not unreasonable to believe that it may arrive in 2025. Though Palworld is still in an early access phase, ports for Mac and PS5 have nonetheless been turned around expediently. The mobile medium will likely take more legwork, albeit, but it's evident that Pocketpair wants to diversify the game's platform range fast. A good date to watch for news on the subject, in addition to Palworld news in general, may be January 19, which will be the first anniversary of the game. Nothing's been confirmed for this date, but it would make sense as an occasion for news from Pocketpair.
Considering Nintendo's lawsuit against Palworld, it's unlikely that the title will get a Switch release anytime soon. In that respect, the mobile port may be invaluable for Pocketpair, as it'll likely be the best opportunity the studio will get to bring Palworld into the portable market—which continues to be an important sector, especially for indie titles (which have benefited greatly from platforms like the Switch).
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 71 /100 Critics Rec: 58%
- Released
- January 19, 2024
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Violence
- Developer(s)
- Pocket Pair, Inc.
- Publisher(s)
- Pocket Pair, Inc.
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- Xbox Series X|S, pc
WHERE TO PLAY
In this game, you can peacefully live alongside mysterious creatures known as Pals or risk your life to drive off a ruthless poaching syndicate. Pals can be used to fight and breed, or they can be made to work on farms or factories. You can even sell them or eat them.
Survival: In a harsh environment where food is scarce and vicious poachers roam, danger waits around every corner. To survive, you must tread carefully and make difficult choices...even if that means eating your own Pals when the time comes.
Mounts & Exploration: Pals can be mounted to traverse the land, sea and sky—allowing you to traverse all kinds of environment as you explore the world.
Collect all kinds of exciting Pals to fight, farm, build, and work for you in this completely new multiplayer, open world survival and crafting game!
- Cross Save
- yes
- Number of Players
- 1-4 (Co-Op); 32 Players Server Limit
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- yes
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- Genre(s)
- Open-World, Shooter, Survival
- How Long To Beat
- 36 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
- File Size Xbox Series
- 6 GB (February 2024)
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair
