Palworld will not become free-to-play or games-as-a-service, developer confirms
Following a recent interview that appeared to suggest that Palworld studio Pocketpair was considering making the game free to play, the developer has now confirmed that this is no longer the case.
The details:
In a recent interview with ASCII.jp, Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe was asked about Palworld's future, which led to the executive discussing a possible shift to a free-to-play, live-service model. Mizobe stated that "things aren't decided yet," but added that, while it would be more financially stable, the game was not designed with the games-as-a-service model in mind.
The interview was met with backlash from fans, prompting Pocketpair to take to X over the weekend to clarify that Palworld will continue to be a buy-to-play release. “TL;DR – We are not changing our game’s business model, it will remain buy-to-play and not f2p or GaaS,” the company wrote. “Recently, an article was published in which we discussed the possible future direction of Palworld and ideas for continuing the game for a long time. In fact, this interview was conducted several months ago. At that time, we were still considering the best way forward for Palworld to create a long-lasting game that continues to grow. We are still discussing this internally, as it is quite challenging to find the ideal path, but we have already decided that the F2P/GaaS approach is not suitable for us.”
While the game's model will remain unchanged, the developer has confirmed that it is looking into the possibility of introducing paid skins and DLC content in the future, but it is still focused on "making Palworld the best game possible."
Palworld's long-awaited PS5 port is expected to appear at the Tokyo Game Show later this month, according to a list created by the event's organizer (via Gematsu). This comes months after the game's community manager hinted that the title would be coming to the console soon.
More gaming news:
Embracer has called off a deal to sell 4A Games and Zen Studios to the same investors that acquired Saber Interactive.
Flappy Bird's original creator, Dong Nguyen, has confirmed that he is not involved in the game's upcoming re-release after it was discovered that its new developer has ties to crypto and Web3.
