Pocketpair delivered one of the most successful games of 2024 right at the start of the year in the form of Palworld, gaining millions upon millions of players within weeks. As the studio focuses on developing more content to deliver for fans, a recent interview with Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe had discussions about the future of the title possibly being free-to-play.
However, Pocketpair has now made an official announcement saying the title will remain a buy-to-play experience.
In the original interview, hosted by ASCII, Mizobe shared his thoughts on making Palworld into a free, live service experience, following in the footsteps of other giants like PUBG and Fall Guys. This sparked some concerned discussions around the Palworld community about the future of the game.
In the latest statement by Pocketpair on social media, it says that the interview was "conducted several months ago," and that the free-to-play, games as a service route has already been dismissed as a viable path.
"Palworld was never designed with that model in mind, and it would require too much work to adapt the game at this point," adds the company. "Additionally, we are very aware that this just isn't what our players want, and we always put our players first."
However, Pocketpair says it is still examining other paths for the title to take, which can include selling skins and other forms of DLC to continue its development. Once a decision on future of Palworld monetization is taken, the studio says it will have more to talk about it then.
"For now, our priority remains making Palworld the best game possible," the studio adds. "We apologize for any concern this may have caused, and we hope this clarifies our position."
Palworld is currently available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S platforms and is also a part of Xbox Game Pass services. The title may soon hit PlayStation platforms though, as rumors say that an announcement may happen at this year's Tokyo Game Show.
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