Palworld 1.0 launch hits 855,000 players — second-highest peak ever

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Palworld recently celebrated its launch into 1.0 and out of early access with 27-pages of patch notes and no price hike , and the devs were rewarded with the best turnout they've seen since the game first released into early access way back in January 2024.

A peak of 855,525 concurrent players turned up for the 1.0 release on Steam alone yesterday placing Palworld back up near the top of the Steam charts. It's a massive achievement and one that was properly celebrated, not least by Pocketpair's head of publishing and communications, John "Bucky" Buckley.

I promise I'll try not to just be posting Steam numbers every day but...really, thank you so much, gamers. Obviously, we had high expectations for 1.0 internally, but this is staggering. We really hope you are enjoying your time in Palworld again! THANK YOU!!🥹 pic.twitter.com/G5NFDqOzob July 11, 2026

"I promise I'll try not to just be posting Steam numbers every day but really, thank you so much, gamers," Buckley said in a social media post . "Obviously, we had high expectations for 1.0 internally, but this is staggering. We really hope you are enjoying your time in Palworld again."

Palworld's all-time peak still sits at 2.1 million, a ridiculous achievement that places it above the likes of Counter Strike 2 , Dota 2 , and Monster Hunter Wilds . In fact, the only two games that have managed to beat Palworld's all-time player count on Steam are Black Myth: Wukong and PUBG , of course.

(Image credit: Pocketpair) Players seem to be enjoying the full release so much that they're asking for even more content, in usual fashion. Ideas like randomised maps, switched-out resource nodes, and even a sequel have been thrown around. Players really can't get enough of Pals and guns.

There are some players, however, who aren't asking for even more content days after a major update. Instead, they're asking for fixes. "I just want them to finally fix and polish the many systems involved in bases and pal behavior," one player says . "Building/stability, missing pieces, pathfinding and interactions, clipping, proper work priorities and so on. It's a huge part of the game and I was honestly disappointed with 1.0 in that regard. The state this is in is fine for EA but hard to accept for a full release."

After a successful launch weekend, Palworld's biggest challenge, as it is with all games, will be retaining players. That's not to say it needs to be reaching the heights of last weekend from here on out—hell, even if it pulled in an eighth of what it did yesterday that would still be impressive—but with so much competition it'll have to keep players hooked one way or another.

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