Palworld Gears Up for 1.0 Release in 2026: What to Expect from the Pokémon-Inspired Hit

09/16/2025 Survival

So, Palworld, that crazy-popular game that kinda looks like Pokémon with guns, is aiming for its full 1.0 release in 2026. Can you believe it's been in early access since the start of 2024? Time flies when you're, uh, collecting Pals and building bases.

Pocketpair, the studio behind the game, dropped a video update where they mentioned they're focusing on ironing out the kinks and polishing the game. It's no secret that Palworld has a lot of quirks and jank, and they want to address those before the full release. I appreciate the honesty. It shows they are committed to deliver the best possible game to us, gamers!

Since its explosive launch, Palworld has been a total phenomenon. I mean, 6 million copies sold in just four days? And it peaked at over 2.1 million concurrent players on Steam, making it the third-highest ever! Even though it has been a success, it has been a rocky road for Pocketpair since they have been facing a lawsuit with Nintendo.

Pocketpair has been busy, though. They've already pushed out five major updates, adding stuff like raids, new areas, and cross-play. However, as they said, they need to start thinking about Palworld 1.0. I think this is a good sign for the game's future.

According to the communications director Bucky, they will be quieter until the 1.0 release, so we shouldn't expect big updates like the ones we got last year. On the bright side, they have a winter update planned, so we will have new content coming anytime soon.

Also, Pocketpair now has a publishing division and is working on multiple projects. They even released Dead Take with Abubakar Salim's Surgent Studios this year. If you ask me, they are doing a great job managing and growing their company!