PlayStation 5 sales of Palworld are already off to a great start, although much like the mighty Mammorest, there's a rather large but. As of the time of writing, the PS5 version of Palworld is unavailable in Japan: a region that Pocketpair's Global Community Manager John "Bucky" Buckley recently told The Best War Games was the game's second most popular market when it comes to active PC players.
Bucky was speaking at this year's Tokyo Game Show, where Pocketpair and Palworld boasted one of the most impressive and eye-catching booths. After revealing that PS5 sales are "going well," he mentioned that Japan had more active Palworld players than any other country except China, suggesting that despite the developer's defiance, they may already be starting to feel the effects of Nintendo's Palworld lawsuit.
'We March On' - Palworld Dev Comments on Nintendo Lawsuit
The developers of Palworld won't allow Nintendo's recently filed lawsuit to alter their plans for the future of the game.
Although Pocketpair hasn't officially confirmed why the PS5 port of Palworld has been indefinitely delayed in Japan, the general consensus seems to be that it has something to do with Nintendo's lawsuit, which was filed just a few days before the announcement that Palworld would finally be coming to the PlayStation 5. For those unaware, Nintendo alleges that Pocketpair infringed upon one of its patents, although Bucky and the rest of the Pocketpair team still have no idea which one.
"We have still heard nothing." - John Buckley, Global Community Manager at Pocketpair
The fact that Japan is the only major market in which the PS5 port of Palworld has been delayed seems to be in line with the views of veteran patent analyst Florian Mueller, who told The Best War Games that he doesn't expect Nintendo's Palworld lawsuit to have much of an impact outside of Japan. Assuming Pocketpair's decision to indefinitely delay the game's PS5 port did have something to do with the lawsuit, though, that impact may well prove to be fairly significant.
Most Japanese Gamers Play Games on Console
Most Popular Gaming Platforms Among Japanese Gamers (Aged 6-18)
|
Console |
72.3% |
|---|---|
|
Mobile |
63.8% |
|
PC |
14.7% |
Despite another year of explosive growth, only around 15% of young Japanese gamers play on PC and fewer still own an Xbox. With that in mind, and with Palworld unavailable on the Nintendo Switch and mobile devices, the PS5 would presumably have been most Japanese gamers' platform of choice. As such, the decision to delay could lead to Pocketpair missing out on tens of thousands of sales in the Japanese market, with many of those potential players having no viable alternative.
It's not all doom and gloom for Pocketpair, though, as the team still has plenty of big ideas for the future of Palworld, some of which will be showcased in a "substantial update" a little later on this year. It's also worth remembering that Palworld is still in the trending now section of numerous regional PlayStation Store sites and has been ever since the game was shadow-dropped for the PlayStation 5 immediately after Sony's September State of Play.
For those interested in learning more about the future of Palworld, The Best War Games's interview with Pocketpair will be published on the site over the coming days.
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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
Fight, farm, build, and work alongside mysterious creatures called "Pals" in this completely new multiplayer, open-world, survival, and crafting game!
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- Genre(s)
- Open-World, Shooter, Survival
Source: Niko Partners