Palworld sells 5 million copies in three days, overtakes CS2 in player count

Pokémon with guns, Palworld, have broken several records over the weekend as the game sells over five million copies. The game has taken down behemoths like Dota 2, Cyberpunk 2077 and the previous two games of the year Elden Ring and Baldur’s Gate 3.

The surprise hit video game now has over 1.5 million peak players on Steam and is now the third-largest player count on Steam. The first position is still held by PUBG with over 3.2 million at all-time peaks. Third position by Counter Strike 2 with over 1.8 million peak players.

Pocketpair, developers of Palworld expressed their gratitude through a post on X thanking players across the globe. The peak player count is only available due to Steam API. However, the game is available on Xbox.

What sets the game apart?

The game doesn’t do anything new, rather, it does what players want. Palworld combines multiple mechanics from games like Rust, Ark Survival, Minecraft, Zelda, etc. Furthermore, it adds monster-catching mechanics from Pokémon.

Combining all these mechanics gave players what they wanted in their game. By now the numbers will be evergreen for a game like Palworld. However, the popularity of the game reveals how much people liked it.

The game has surpassed multiple AAA titles in terms of sales, thanks to its Pokémon gameplay. For example, God of War sold 3.1 million in three days and The Last of Us 2 sold 4 million in the same period as per IGN.

Palworld controversy

The game is a hit, doesn’t mean it’s clean, various controversies surrounding the Pal designs have been on the air. Pokémon fans say it’s a lawsuit waiting to happen. Legal counsel who talked to Rock Paper Shotgun, however, said that the art team did a great job.

While the nature and concept may be the same, the character design is distinct. It is up to Nintendo to file a suit, said Tim Cotton, senior legal counsel at Reed Exhibitions.