Palworld recently hit the tremendous milestone of 40 million players, and its fireball 1.0 update is already sending it speeding toward the next one. Alinea Analytics market analysis lead Rhys Elliott estimates the survival game has already sold close to around 1.8 million copies since Palworld 1.0 launched on July 10.
Elliott explains on Substack, “In terms of premium unit sales, our platform estimates put Palworld at roughly 30.5M copies sold, with nearly 86% of that total originating on Steam.” We can now christen Palworld “one of the biggest new gaming IPs ever,” as Elliott calls it, as it’s already amassed something like $700 million in revenue its mere two-and-a-half years of life.
In comparison, Pokemon – also known as Palworld’s opponent in an ongoing copyright infringement showdown with IP owner Nintendo – hasn’t sold over 30 million copies for a single game since Pokemon Red, Green, and Blue in 1996, according to Serebii webmaster Joe Merrick. The entire Pokemon universe nonetheless outsells little Palworld by at least a couple hundred million copies.
So, some players on Steam, in particular, are eager to defend fragile franchise Palworld from barking dog Pokemon, as Elliott etsimates 65% of Palworld players are on Steam, compared to 31% of players on Xbox and Xbox Game Pass, and a meager 4% on PS5.
Elliott observes, “English-language reviewers framed buying [Palworld] as an explicit statement against – in their words – Nintendo’s anti-competitive business practices, actively celebrating the resolution of Nintendo’s legal challenges against Pocketpair.” (It’s worth noting the lawsuit technically remains unresolved.) Lack of console loyalty radicalizes you.
It also activates your Apple Pay. 1.5 million of those total 1.8 million, post-1.0 Palworld copies sold were on Steam, this report finds. PS5 players, in comparison, bought about 300,000 Palworld 1.0 copies, while Palworld sold only another 70,000-ish units on Xbox once it launched in full – probably because the game continues to be available for ‘free’ on Game Pass Premium.
To me, all this makes Palworld a gleaming example of how strong the PC market has become now that Xbox and PlayStation are openly just experts in being unlikeable. Because of the customizable nature of the platform, PC gamers tend to value flexibility, agency, and a sense of ownership. This self-effacing spirit seems to have fueled Steam players rallying around Palworld, itself, in some eyes, a bulwark for free will against Nintendo’s angry Gengar eyes.
“The console sector is undeniably facing an existential crisis,” Elliott says. “If the baseline buy-in for next-generation hardware approaches a $1,000 digital-only box, mass-market growth is effectively dead on arrival. High-priced, drive-less hardware introduces a nuts barrier to entry.”
“Casual consumers will simply opt out of newer hardware,” the analyst continues, “redirecting their time and wallet share toward mobile, PC, or existing hardware.” Good for Palworld, bad for consoles.