Palworld hasn’t necessarily been trying to compete with Pokemon since it entered early access in January 2024—not in some formal, declarative way anyway. However, its comparisons to the creature-collecting phenomenon that started it all have been impossible to ignore and have formed a natural rivalry between the two games. Of course, it would be natural to expect Pokemon to win that battle, as it has been around longer, belongs to a much larger company, and has had more time to spread its influence across the globe. And yet, Palworld just keeps winning the fight against the very source of its inspiration, with one major launch decision and a massive milestone proving that it has what it takes to be the better of the two.
Palworld just recently announced on X that its price at its 1.0 launch, slated for July 10, 2026, will not be increased as most Early Access games do once they graduate to their full release. That means players will be able to purchase the complete version of Pocketpair’s creature-collecting survival game for a mere $30—the same price it has been since its Early Access launch, with the exception of occasional sales. In fact, ahead of its July 10 1.0 launch, it’s even 30% off, making it a steal at a measly $21. That’s not all, however, as Palworld recently announced that it had reached 40 million players worldwide, which is more than Pokemon‘s best games have ever been able to achieve. Those two things in and of themselves show that Palworld isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and its rivalry against Pokemon may not be the rivalry it once appeared to be.
Palworld Is Officially a Steal at $30, Especially Compared to Pokemon Games
The biggest advantage Palworld has over Pokemon right now might simply be the fact that Palworld is still being sold like a scrappy Early Access game despite now having the reach and name recognition of something much bigger. A $30 price tag made sense when Palworld first launched in Early Access, but keeping that same price for 1.0 makes the game look like one of the better values in modern creature-collecting. And that becomes especially harder to ignore when Pokemon enters the picture.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Guess the games from the emojis.
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Modern Pokemon games are full-priced Nintendo releases, which, of course, isn’t surprising given the franchise’s size—and Nintendo. Pokemon is one of the biggest names in entertainment, and no one expects its next major game to suddenly launch at half the price of a standard first-party release. Even so, Palworld staying at $30 immediately makes the comparison less comfortable for Pokemon, especially with Pocketpair preparing to release the most complete version of the game yet.
The biggest advantage Palworld has over Pokemon right now might simply be the fact that Palworld is still being sold like a scrappy Early Access game despite now having the reach and name recognition of something much bigger.
The important thing to consider here is that Pocketpair probably could have easily raised the price and justified itm, especially since Palworld 1.0 isn’t going to be some humble little exit from Early Access. It’s coming with new Pals, new regions, the World Tree, and enough changes that returning players have even been encouraged to delete their Palworld save for the full release. A price increase would have been easy to explain, and many players likely would have just accepted it without question.
In other words, Pocketpair choosing not to do that is guaranteed good marketing, for one thing, and it simultaneously justifies those who waited for the full release before purchasing it. Palworld is walking into 1.0 with the kind of attention most Early Access games would love to have, but it isn’t taking advantage of that attention by increasing its price, knowing that people would pay for it anyway. Instead, the full launch is still being sold at a price that makes it easier for returning players to recruit their friends, easier for curious players to finally give it a try, and easier for lapsed players to justify coming back.
Sure, Pokemon still has a lot to offer that Palworld can’t manufacture overnight—like the history, polish, iconography, and childhood connection associated with it. What Palworld has now, however, is a much easier value proposition. For $30, players are getting a full creature-collecting survival game that has spent more than two years expanding in Early Access and is about to receive its largest update to date. For anyone who has spent years wishing Pokemon would take some bigger risks with its world, structure, or player freedom, Palworld‘s full launch price makes that curiosity much easier to act on.
Palworld’s 40 Million Players Make the Pokemon Comparison Even Harder to Ignore
The price point would already be enough to make Palworld‘s 1.0 launch worth a second glance or four, but its latest player-count milestone makes the whole thing like an even bigger deal. Pocketpair recently announced on X that Palworld has reached 40 million players worldwide, which is an absurd number for any game, let alone one that is technically still in Early Access. But one of the reasons this is such a massive milestone for Palworld is that, now that its full release price has been grounded to $30, it’s likely that number will only increase from here.
This comparison does need some care, of course, since Palworld‘s 40 million figure refers to players, while Pokemon‘s biggest games are usually measured by sales. Those aren’t the same thing, especially with Palworld also being available through Game Pass. Even with that caveat, though, the number is still enormous. Pokemon Red and Blue have long stood as the franchise’s best-selling games, and Palworld now has a publicly announced player count that clears that figure by millions before its full 1.0 launch has even arrived.
That doesn’t mean Palworld has beaten Pokemon as a franchise, and it would be ridiculous to pretend otherwise. Pokemon is still a merchandising empire, an anime institution, a trading card giant, and one of Nintendo’s most reliable gaming pillars. Palworld isn’t suddenly bigger than all of that just because it hit 40 million players. Still, from individual game to individual game, Pocketpair now has a number that makes the comparison much harder to dismiss.
Pocketpair recently announced that Palworld has reached 40 million players worldwide, which is an absurd number for any game, let alone one that is technically still in Early Access.
And the timing of it all makes it even more impressive. Palworld is announcing its 40 million player milestone right before the version that is supposed to show what the game can fully become. That gives Pocketpair a very different kind of momentum than most Early Access success stories, since Palworld isn’t trying to convince players that its best days are behind it. Rather, it’s trying to convince them that the launch that made it famous was only the first version of the real thing.
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Image via Pocketpair -
Image via Pocketpair -
At 40 million players and $30, Palworld is no longer just the strange survival game that borrowed a familiar creature-collecting system and ran in a completely different direction. It’s now one of the clearest reminders that Pokemon‘s formula isn’t as untouchable as it or the industry might have once thought, especially when another game can offer a bigger swing for a much smaller price.
- Released
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July 10, 2026
- ESRB
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T For Teen Due To Violence
- Developer(s)
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Pocket Pair, Inc.
- Publisher(s)
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Pocket Pair, Inc.
