Palworld Hits 1.0 Friday With 40M Players — And Its Price Isn't Budging

After two and a half years of early access development, Palworld is finally crossing the finish line. Pocketpair has officially confirmed that the open-world survival game will reach its version 1.0 milestone this Friday, July 10th, 2026 — and in a move that bucks industry convention, the studio is keeping the game's price exactly where it started. Players will continue to pay $29.99 in the US and £24.99 in the UK, with no increase attached to the full launch.

The decision stands out because price hikes at the 1.0 stage are practically a rite of passage in the early access ecosystem. Developers typically raise prices to reflect the completed, polished state of a product after months or years of community-funded development. Pocketpair is framing its choice differently — as a deliberate gesture of appreciation toward the players who stuck with the game through its long development arc. The studio described the pricing decision as "a small way of saying thank you," and indications suggest it isn't a temporary promotional move.

Alongside the pricing news came a significant milestone announcement: Palworld has now surpassed 40 million unique players since its January 2024 launch. That figure, however, reflects players rather than sales, a distinction worth making given that Palworld launched simultaneously on Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, where it quickly became one of the platform's most successful third-party titles. Game Pass subscribers will also receive access to the 1.0 update on July 10th. By September 2025, the game had already crossed 25 million copies sold, though an updated sales figure has not been disclosed.

Pocketpair accompanied the announcement with a recap video that also teases what lies ahead for Palworld post-launch, suggesting the studio has no intention of slowing down. The company has grown considerably since launch — from a small team that founder Takuro Mizobe once described as struggling to handle the game's explosive early success, to a workforce of roughly 110 employees. Pocketpair has also expanded into publishing, broadening its footprint in the industry beyond Palworld itself.

The game casts players in an open world filled with creatures called Pals, which can be captured, trained, and put to work across farming, building, and combat activities — either solo or in online co-op. Its similarities to Nintendo's Pokémon franchise sparked considerable controversy and an ongoing legal dispute, but Palworld has undeniably carved out its own massive audience. At its Steam peak around launch, more than 2 million players were online simultaneously, cementing its status as one of the most remarkable early access success stories in recent memory.