Palworld 1.0 launch draws over 855,000 concurrent players on Steam

Japanese developer PocketPair released version 1.0 of its open‑world survival‑craft game Palworld on 10 July 2026. The launch weekend saw a peak of 855,525 simultaneous players on Steam, making the title the second‑most‑played game on the platform after Counter‑Strike 2 and ranking it among the top‑15 all‑time peaks.

The update added major new content, including the explorable World Tree, Sky Islands, a Wing Pack for flight, and more than 20 new Pals such as the Sky Dragon and Sword Eel. PocketPair kept the full‑release price unchanged and offered a limited‑time 30 % discount, which helped attract a surge of players, particularly from Asian markets.

The game's success comes amid an ongoing patent lawsuit from Nintendo and The Pokémon Company; the suit claims Palworld infringes on monster‑catching patents, though the plaintiffs have reduced their claims. As PocketPair’s spokesperson John Buckley noted, “Version 1.0 is larger in scope than any previous update.”

Analyst Paul Tassi of Forbes said, “Bis heute gab es noch keine vergleichbare Situation, in der ein Relaunch solche Zahlen erreicht hat.” The developer confirmed that post‑launch updates will continue, promising further expansions and features.