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Palworld developer clarifies the hit survival game 'will remain buy-to-play' and won't pivot to a free live service model

Pocketpair has confirmed that Palworld, its popular monster-taming survival game, will not be transitioning to a free-to-play or live service model, despite previous statements suggesting otherwise. The studio clarifies that an earlier interview regarding the game's future direction was conducted several months ago and that the team is now focusing on paid DLC and cosmetic skins to support development while continuing to make Palworld the best game possible.

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An interview with Pocketpair's CEO Takuro Mizobe recently hinted that the studio's smash hit survival game Palworld could soon go free-to-play in order to "extend its lifespan." The company has now clarified that the interview was conducted months ago and no such plans are in place anymore.

"We are not changing our game's business model," the studio tweeted today, "it will remain buy-to-play and not free-to-play or [game as a service]. Recently, an article was published in which we discussed the possible future direction of Palworld and ideas for continuing the game for a long time. In fact, this interview was conducted several months ago."

The memo explains that Pocketpair were still "considering the best way forward for Palworld" at the time of the interview because the team wanted a "long-lasting game that continues to grow." Pocketpair is apparently still talking about how to make sure the 'Pokemon-with-guns' stays relevant, but it's ruled out the live service approach completely.

"Palworld was never designed with that model in mind, and it would require too much work to adapt the game at this point," the announcement continues. "Additionally, we are very aware that this just isn't what our players want, and we always put our players first."

Pocketpair is now considering cosmetic skins and paid DLC "as a means to support development" - though it says the team is mainly focused on making Palworld "the best game possible."

Palworld was a runaway success when it debuted earlier in the year, as it shattered records across Steam, Xbox, and Game Pass. The CEO even announced that it had generated revenue "in the tens of billions of yen" - at least $70 million - off the survival monster-taming hybrid.

For more games like Palworld, be sure to check out our roundup of the best survival games.