What just happened? Palworld debuted just two weeks ago on Xbox and PC, yet it has already become one of the most popular new titles launched this year. According to developer Pocketpair, the game has already garnered more than 19 million players worldwide on the two platforms combined. The company had earlier announced that Palworld hit 6 million players globally within just six days of launch.

In an X post, the official Palworld account revealed that the game has already sold around 12 million copies on Steam and has approximately 7 million players across Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. The developers also promised to continue fixing bugs and thanked all players for their support.

ðÂÂÂTotal number of players exceeds 19 millionðÂÂÂ

It's been less than two weeks since #Palworld was released, thank you!

ã»Steam: 12 million~ copies
ã»Xbox: 7 million~ players

We will continue to prioritize fixing bugs!
Thank you for your continued support of #Pocketpair! pic.twitter.com/twgAeYVL07

– Palworld (@Palworld_EN) January 31, 2024

Microsoft's Xbox gaming division announced that Palworld is the biggest third-party launch ever in Game Pass history. The company also stated that it is the most-played third-party day one release via cloud gaming with Game Pass Ultimate, and is currently the most-played Xbox game with three million daily players. Speaking to Xbox Wire, Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe said, "This is just the beginning for us and Palworld, and the feedback we're gathering while in Game Preview will allow us to continue to improve the experience for Pal Tamers across all platforms."

Palworld was reportedly made on a ¥1 billion ($7 million) budget, meaning its massive popularity has brought windfall profits for its developer. The game costs $29.99 on Steam and is available as part of PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass. Assuming all players on Steam paid the full price, it has already earned total revenues of more than $300 million on Steam alone. Add that to the earnings from Xbox and PC Game Pass, and it's clear that Pocketpair has hit a jackpot with its latest title.

Meanwhile, the success of Palworld means that there are many unscrupulous developers trying to take advantage of its popularity. There is currently no official mobile version of the game, but there are many apps with similar names popping up on the App Store and Google Play.

In an X post, Pocketpair stated that none of the Palworld clones on Android and iOS are affiliated with the company, and warned that these apps could contain malware that could potentially lead to fraud or the leakage of personal information. The Palworld developer also said that they have reported the issue to Apple and Google, so we expect these fraudulent apps to be taken down from the App Store and Google Play sooner rather than later.