It was ‘super popular to hate Palworld’ after launch, says community manager: ‘A lot of companies might crumble under the threats, under the pressure’

Palworld, the survival game often referred to as “Pokémon with guns”—sometimes affectionately, sometimes derisively—drew mixed reactions from critics when it first launched in January 2024.

We called it a “somewhat edgy, competent survival game with a core concept just dumb enough to be streamable” when it was released, while other players noted its similarities to Nintendo’s popular monster-catching RPG. Still, it was an overnight success, peaking at more than two million users on Steam.