My silver-haired, pelt-wearing player character totes a crossbow through a zone that looks like an autumnal fever dream. Through a thicket of red-leaved trees, a pack of large, wolf-like Direhowls emerge and immediately go on the attack. In an instant, I summon Lifmunk, a green squirrel-like animal dwarfed by the intimidating Direhowls, and it scurries to perch atop my character¡¯s head. On command, Lifmunk suddenly brandishes a gatling gun and opens fire on the pack, mowing them down in seconds.
This is , a newly released game glibly described as ¡°Pokemon with guns,¡± and it¡¯s a wild ride.
Released into early access on Jan. 19 by Tokyo-based developer Pocketpair Inc., Palworld is taking the gaming world by storm. In just four days, the game has sold more than , and as of writing, Palworld is the most-played game on video game digital distribution service Steam with over at its peak (good for second-highest of all time). For comparison, The Game Awards¡¯ 2023 game of the year, Baldur¡¯s Gate 3, peaked at 174,189 simultaneous players.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.