Palworld dev confirms the game will remain buy-to-play and isn’t changing

Following a recent article suggesting that Palworld developer Pocketpair was assessing whether to make the game free-to-play or a game-as-a-service, the company released a statement saying that it’s not. The game will remain a buy-to-play experience as it always has been.

The article in question appears to be an interview posted by ASCII.jp, which was then translated by Automaton. According to Pocketpair’s statement on Twitter, this interview was conducted months ago. When the developer was assessing whether Palworld could go free-to-play or head down the game-as-a-service route. As of September 14, 2024, Pocketpair is firm in its decision that the game won’t be moving to a new model because, as it stated, “We are very aware that this just isn’t what our players want, and we always put our players first.”

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Pocketpair’s full statement on Twitter is definitely written to clear the air with fans. When the interview piece came out, and the translation began circulating, it caused quite a stir in the community. That’s completely understandable because if you’ve paid for a game that then goes free-to-play, you’d expect some sort of compensation for the money you put into it.

The messaging here is precise. Palworld isn’t a free-to-play game or a game as a service. It’s a title you pay for once and enjoy as it is. It is, in many ways, like the Pokemon series, and the buy-to-play aspect is just another similarity to add to the list.

The point that really sticks out to me from the post is as follows. “Palworld was never designed with that model in mind, and it would require too much work to adapt the game at this point. Additionally, we are very aware that this just isn’t what our players want, and we always put our players first.”

Pocketpair hits the nail right on the head. Palworld wasn’t ever designed to be anything but buy-to-play. Suddenly changing fundamental parts of the experience to make it fit a free-to-play or game as a service model would harm the core experience, and the developer cares too much about the enjoyment players get from the game to even contemplate doing that.

Something that might be changing in the future, as outlined in the same post, is skins. Xbox players have felt a little left out when it comes to skins because of the Twitch Drops skins PC players can get. While the priority for now is making Palworld the best game it can possibly be, this at least shows that Pocketpair is aware of how fans feel and is considering options to find a solution.

The statement ends with, “We apologize for any concern this may have caused, and we hope this clarifies our position.” This really does tie the whole matter up in a nice little bow. There’s no room for error or suggestion. Palworld will remain a buy-to-play game, which I think is the best way forward, considering that’s how it started life.