Palworld Stays Buy-to-Play, Free Option Rejected by Developers

Palworld developer Pocketpair has firmly dismissed any speculation about transitioning the game to a Free to Play (F2P) or Games-as-a-Service (GaaS) model. This clarification comes after reports surfaced about the studio exploring various future plans for their popular creature-catcher survival game.

Palworld Not Changing to Free-to-Play (F2P) Model

Palworld DLC and Skins Being Considered to Support Development

"Regarding the Future of Palworld TL;DR – We are not changing our game’s business model, it will remain buy-to-play and not f2p or GaaS," the Palworld team announced in a statement on Twitter (X) a few days ago. This statement was a response to reports suggesting that Pocketpair had been considering a shift to a live service and F2P model among other potential directions.

Pocketpair further elaborated that they are still in the process of determining the "best way forward" for Palworld. This follows an interview with ASCII Japan where the developers shared their thoughts on the game's future. "At that time, we were still considering the best way forward for Palworld to create a long-lasting game that continues to grow," their statement continued. "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."

The studio emphasized their commitment to the original vision of Palworld, stating, "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 remains dedicated to enhancing Palworld to its fullest potential and apologized for any confusion caused by the earlier reports. "We apologize for any concern this may have caused, and we hope this clarifies our position. Thank you for your continued support of Palworld," they concluded.

In a previous interview with ASCII Japan, Palworld CEO Takuro Mizobe discussed future updates for the game, which was conducted several months ago. Mizobe confirmed plans to introduce new content, including new Pals and raid bosses. The studio's recent statement on Twitter (X) also mentioned that they are "considering skins and DLC for Palworld in future as a means to support development, but we will discuss this with you all again as we get closer to that point."

In other news, a PS5 version of Palworld was reportedly listed among the titles set to be announced at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show 2024 (TGS 2024). According to news site Gematsu, this list from Japan’s Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA) should not be considered definitive for potential announcements.