Summary
- Palworld players successfully rallied to try and get a rat Pal added to the game, surpassing 3,600 support in just 18 hours.
- A Palworld community manager said they would share the idea with the game's art team.
- While the idea will be shared with the developers, the community manager gave no guarantee regarding whether it would eventually be added to Palworld.
Some Palworld players have been rallying to get a rat added to the open-world monster-catching game, and they have already more than tripled their quota for gathering support for the idea. Palworld features Pals based on all kinds of animals, but there's no rat Pal yet.
Palworld became an overnight sensation when independent publisher/developer Pocketpair released it in Early Access in January 2024. Despite its pre-release stigma as "Pokemon with guns," the combination of open-world survival crafting mixed with brightly colored, anime-inspired monster catching struck a chord with players, who gave it one of the highest concurrent Steam player peak counts of all time at more than 2.1 million players simultaneously.
Why Palworld Needs the Nintendo Switch 2
Palworld remains popular despite only being on the PC and Xbox. The Switch 2 could become a pal for Pocketpair's controversial monster-hunting game.
After being questioned about the potential for a rat-based Pal, Palworld's official community manager, Bucky, issued a challenge to one fan to find at least 1,000 people who would support the game adding one, promising that they would speak to someone from the game's art department if there were enough support behind the idea. Within 18 hours, the original post from Reddit user DonnieTheBirb had already more than tripled that amount, coming in at 3,600 likes and climbing. In response to the successful campaign, the Reddit user has shared an update from Bucky, and while there is still no promise that a rat will be added to the growing list of new Palworld Pals, Bucky will at least ask one of the artists if they can or will add one to the roster.
A Rat Pal is Being Pitched to Palworld's Art Staff
After the release of Palworld's free Sakurajima update in late June, there are now more than 100 Pals already in the game. If the development team does move forward with adding a rat Pal, fans shouldn't expect to see it anytime soon. Bucky noted that there are already plenty of other Pals in the pipeline at Pocketpair, and modeling and animating each one is a process that takes several months from start to finish. "Will it get made? I promise nothing," the community manager said.
Despite the lack of a solid immediate answer, plenty of fans are already throwing out a variety of ideas about what form this new Pal could take. Some fans are throwing their support behind the idea of a draconic rat, while others feel the game is leaning too hard into Fire-type Pals already. With the recent addition of the Japan-like Sakurajima region, many others are throwing their support behind a martial arts-style rat akin to Master Splinter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Palworld
- Released
- January 19, 2024
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!
- Developer(s)
- Pocket Pair, Inc.
- Publisher(s)
- Pocket Pair, Inc.
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- How Long To Beat
- 36 Hours
- Genre(s)
- Open-World, Shooter, Survival
