Palworld continues to win the battle against Pokemon, and it doesn't even try

Palworld haven't necessarily tried to compete with Pokémon since it entered early access in January 2024 – not in any formal, declarative way, anyway. But 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, that would be natural to expect Pokémon to win that fight, because it has been around longer, belongs to a much larger company, and has had more time to spread its influence throughout the world. And yet, Palworld just keeps winning the battle against the very source of its inspiration, with a big launch decision and a huge milestone proving it has what it takes to be the best of the two.

Palworld recently announced on X that its price at the launch of 1.0, slated for July 10, 2026, will not increase as most Early Access games do when they upgrade to their full release. That means players will be able to purchase the full version of Pocketpair's creature-collecting survival game for just $30 – the same price it's been since the launch of Early Access, barring temporary sales. In fact, ahead of the July 10th 1.0 launch, it's even 30% off, making it a steal at a paltry $21. That's not all, though Palworld recently announced that it had reached 40 million players worldwide, which is more than Pokémonbest game has ever been able to achieve. These two things in and of themselves show that Palworld going nowhere soon, and its rivalry with Pokémon 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 have over Pokémon right now may simply be the fact that Palworld is still being sold as 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 the same price for 1.0 makes the game look like one of the better values ​​in modern creature collecting. And it gets especially harder to ignore when Pokémon comes into the picture.

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Modern Pokémon games are full-price Nintendo releases, which of course isn't surprising given the size of the franchise – and Nintendo. Pokémon is one of the biggest names in entertainment, and no one expects its next big game to suddenly launch at half the price of a standard first-party release. Still, Palworld stay at $30 immediately makes the comparison less convenient for Pokémonespecially with Pocketpair preparing to release the most complete version of the game yet.

The important thing to keep in mind here is that Pocketpair could probably have easily raised the price and justified it, especially since Palworld 1.0 won't be some humble exit from Early Access. It comes with new buddies, new regions, the world tree, and enough changes that returning players have even been encouraged to delete their Palworld save to the full version. A price increase would have been easy to explain, and many players probably would have just accepted it without question.

In other words, Pocketpair choosing not to do it is guaranteed to be good marketing, for one thing, and it also vindicates those who waited for the full release before buying it. Palworld enters 1.0 with the kind of attention that most Early Access games would love to receive, but it doesn't capitalize on that attention by raising the 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, Pokémon still has a lot to offer it Palworld cannot be manufactured overnight – like the history, polish, iconography and childhood connection associated with it. What Palworld has now, however, a much simpler value proposition. For $30, players get a full creature-collecting survival game that has spent more than two years expanding in Early Access and is about to get its biggest update yet. For anyone who has spent years wishing Pokémon would take any greater risks with its world, structure or player freedom, PalworldThe 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 would already be enough to do Palworlds 1.0 launch worth a second glance or four, but its latest player count milestone makes it 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 huge milestone for Palworld is that now that its full price has been set at $30, it's likely that number will only increase from here.

This comparison requires some care, of course, because Palworlds 40 million figure refers to players, while Pokémons biggest game is usually measured by sales. It's not the same thing, especially with Palworld also available via Game Pass. Even with that caveat, the number is still huge. Pokemon Red and Blue has long stood as the franchise's best-selling game, and Palworld now has a publicly announced number of players clearing that number by millions before the full 1.0 launch has even arrived.

It doesn't mean Palworld has struck Pokémon as a franchise, and it would be ridiculous to pretend otherwise. Pokémon remains a merchandise empire, an anime institution, a trading card giant, and one of Nintendo's most reliable gaming mainstays. Palworld isn't suddenly bigger than all 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.

And the timing of it all makes it even more impressive. Palworld announcing its 40 million player milestone right before the release that is supposed to show what the game can fully become. It gives Pocketpair a very different kind of momentum than most Early Access success stories since Palworld doesn't try to convince players that its best days are behind it. Rather, it tries to convince them that the launch that made it famous was just the first version of the real thing.

With 40 million players and $30, Palworld is no longer just the odd survival game that borrowed a familiar creature collection system and ran in a completely different direction. It is now one of the clearest reminders of that Pokémonthe formula isn't as untouchable as it or the industry might once have thought, especially when another game can offer a bigger swing for a much lower price.

Released

10 July 2026

ESRB

T For teenager due to violence

Developer

Pocket Pair, Inc.

Publisher

Pocket Pair, Inc.