Palworld Just Passed 2 Million Concurrent Players On Steam, Only Second Game To Ever To Do So
In less than a week on sale, Palworld has reached more than 2 million concurrent players on Steam alone, according to SteamDB, surpassing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and claiming the spot for second most concurrent players on Steam of all time.
It's been a wild week for the monster collecting, early access survival game the internet has come to refer to as "Pokemon with guns." But it's clear Palworld is striking a chord with audiences, satisfying an apparent demand for an open-world Pokemon-like game that the Pokemon Company and Nintendo haven't been able to meet in recent years.
Making Palworld's concurrent player record even more impressive is the fact that the game's huge player numbers and record-breaking sales figures don't even factor in Xbox, where the game can be purchased for $30 but is also available on both Game Pass for consoles and PC.
Palworld has sold more than 7 million copies on Steam alone. The total number of concurrent players and copies sold is actually even higher, which is quite an accomplishment on the part of developer Pocketpair. Though we don't have exact numbers, Palworld did surpass Fortnite on Xbox in terms of active users last week, another impressive feat.
Palworld, so far, hasn't shown any signs of slowing down, but it does have quite a hill to climb in order to surpass the current record-holder for most concurrent players on Steam of all time: PUBG. The game that kicked off the battle royale craze still sits at the top of Steam's all-time concurrent player rankings, having reached 3.2 million concurrent players six years ago.
Though there haven't been any official announcements, it's possible Palworld could at some point come to PlayStation 5, with Pocketpair stating it will be considered over the course of the game's early access development period. In a post on X, Pocketpair shared its early access roadmap for Palworld, which includes the addition of PvP, cross-play between Steam and Xbox players, and new Pals. There are currently a number of differences between the Xbox and Steam version of Palworld, something Pocketpair is looking to address.
With great popularity also comes potential legal issues. One prominent YouTuber has gone as far as to mod the game's Pals into actual Pokemon, in the process inciting the wrath of Nintendo's lawyers, who have already had a video showcasing the mod removed following a DMCA notice.
