Often referred to as "Pokémon with Guns," since its initial announcement from Pocketpair on June 5th, 2021, to the launch of its official card game on July 30th, 2026, Palworld has been on a journey. We'll break down its timeline and how it came to surpass 40 million total players worldwide and hit 3.5 million card pack sales worldwide.
What is Palworld?
It is best that I briefly explain what Palworld is. Essentially, it is an open-world survival and crafting game where you gather resources, build a base, and explore the Palpagos Islands. Where Palworld stands out is hidden in the name: you can capture, breed, and battle Pals (creatures), which is where people quickly identified the similarities to Pokémon.
One of the key differences, though, is that you can send your Pals out to gather resources and the thing that gave them their infamous nickname: they carry guns. The thought of Pokémon-esque creatures carrying weapons and fighting alongside you was enough to get everyone excited about it.
A Wild Pokémon Company has appeared!
With a combination of the hype and some very questionable Palworld designs, it wasn't long before the Pokémon Company and Nintendo got involved. Less than a week after Palworld's launch into early access on Steam and Xbox, the Pokémon Company issued a statement making it clear that it hadn't authorized the use of any Pokémon assets and intended to investigate potential infringement. They never outright named Palworld, but did mention "another company's game released in January 2024," which narrowed it down a great deal.
Fast forward to September 18th, 2024: Nintendo and the Pokémon Company filed a formal patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair. This didn't really target the designs, but rather patented gameplay mechanics involved in capturing and battling creatures. As of this date, with Pocketpair having patched out the disputed mechanics, the dispute has narrowed to older versions of the game — and reports indicate both the Japanese Patent Office and the US Patent Office have since rejected related patent claims, weakening Nintendo's case.
There was a slow drop in active users, from 2.1 million down to the tens of thousands (with peaks around 25,000–58,000), from the point of the infringement lawsuit up until July 10th, when something happened that would breathe new life into the franchise.
Version 1.0 - The Palworld's Big Comeback
On July 10th, 2026, Palworld Version 1.0 released after being in early access. This was significant, as it included a variety of updates and changes to the game. It included two brand-new regions (the sky-bound island of Sunreach and the long-teased World Tree), added 72 new Pals to bring the total to 287, and raised the level cap from 65 to 80. New Mutation and Awakening systems gave breeding and progression a serious overhaul, while reworked Tower Bosses, 13 new weapons, and a rebuilt base-raid system gave combat a fresh edge.
The result of these massive changes was that concurrent players surged back up toward 1 million within days across all platforms (Steam alone hit around 855,000–956,000). Pocketpair had already announced, just before the 1.0 launch, that Palworld had surpassed 40 million total players worldwide!
From Screen to Booster Pack
Following the success of the V1.0 release, the first Palworld Official Card Game set, "Dawn of Palpagos," hit shelves worldwide on July 30th, 2026. It was made by Bushiroad, the studio behind "Weiss Schwarz" and "Cardfight!! Vanguard."
Ahead of its official launch, Bushiroad announced on July 9th, 2026 that the set had already shipped over 3.5 million packs worldwide on the strength of pre-orders — a strong signal of demand before a single box had legally hit shelves. The company has already announced the next set, "Legends Awaken," due for release on October 30th, 2026.
I hope this has brought you up to date with the history of Palworld. By the looks of things, this isn't going away anytime soon!
