Palworld officially left early access with its 1.0 update earlier this month, and players are returning to the game in huge numbers. The survival monster-collecting title has enjoyed a major resurgence since the full release, with hundreds of thousands of players jumping back in to explore the new content. While the game hasn’t managed to break its all-time player record (it still seems unlikely at this point), it has come remarkably close to another major milestone.

According to Steam player tracking data, Palworld recently reached a peak of 961,867 concurrent players on Steam over the weekend. That makes it one of the biggest Steam launches of the year and shows that interest in the game remains incredibly strong more than two years after its original debut. Taking into consideration other platforms, it likely had more than 1 million at some point.

Palworld 1.0 has provided a massive boost to the developers

For comparison, Palworld’s highest player count came when it first launched into early access around two and a half years ago. At the time, the game reached an all-time peak of roughly 2.1 million concurrent players on Steam in a single day, making it one of the biggest launches the platform has ever seen.

John “Bucky” Buckley, Pocketpair’s Head of Publishing and Communications, thanked the community in a post on X after seeing the latest player numbers. Buckley described the results as “mind boggling numbers” and said that working on Palworld has been a “surreal and life-changing experience.” He also thanked players for their continued support over the past two years and said the response to version 1.0 has been overwhelming.

At the same time, Buckley believes the recent surge is probably the game’s highest point following the full release. Even so, he made it clear that the studio sees this as a major success and is grateful for the community that has continued supporting the game since early access. If you’re interested in jumping in, a 30% off launch offer is still available until July 23.

The player count is not the only positive sign for Pocketpair. Palworld has also been receiving a wave of positive user reviews following the 1.0 update, with many players praising the new content, improvements, and overall state of the full release. The combination of strong player numbers and favorable reviews suggests that the long development period has paid off. Buckley previously described Palworld 1.0 as a shockingly big update, and it’s clear to see that fans have responded with overwhelming praise.

About the Author

Abdul Haddi

Abdul is a tech writer and Editor for PC Guide, specializing in all things tech, gaming, and hardware.