{"id":2040773,"date":"2026-07-13T10:37:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T07:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2040773"},"modified":"2026-07-13T10:37:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T07:37:54","slug":"palworld-barges-dota-2-aside-as-pc-player-counts-skyrocket-following-the-games-1-0-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2040773","title":{"rendered":"Palworld barges Dota 2 aside as PC player counts skyrocket following the game&#8217;s 1.0 release"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/palworld\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Palworld<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Palworld barges Dota 2 aside as PC player counts skyrocket following the game&#8217;s 1.0 release<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Gotta catch &#8217;em all.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Palworld---pink-and-blue-Pals.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Palworld screenshot of two fluffy Pals with big ears, one pink and one blue\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"Palworld---pink-and-blue-Pals.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Pocketpair<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Fran Ruiz avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/fran-j-ruiz-author.png?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Fran Ruiz avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"fran-j-ruiz-author.png\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/fran-ruiz\">Fran Ruiz<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Contributor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-07-13T10:37:54+00:00\">July 13, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/palworld-player-count-launch-weekend?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          5 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"b6085a2f-e387-4cd9-ae52-4178110ad8a1\" data-name=\"Palworld\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Palworld\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Palworld\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Palworld\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Palworld\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Palworld\" title=\"Follow Palworld\"><br \/>\n  Follow Palworld<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>After a long wait, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/palworld\">Palworld<\/a> has finally hit 1.0 on PC and consoles, and while it hasn&#8217;t managed to replicate its massive 2.1m concurrent player peak from early 2024, it&#8217;s currently one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/charts\/mostplayed\">most played games on Steam<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>At the time of writing, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/palworld-beginner-tips-tricks-9409\">Palworld<\/a> is second with 489,007 players and an 855,525 one-day peak, behind only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/counter-strike-two\">Counter-Strike 2<\/a>. It&#8217;s the open-world survival game&#8217;s best-ever concurrent player count since it first welcomed players.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Palworld 1.0 - Official Launch Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TlKuyVq-WXA?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/TlKuyVq-WXA\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Palworld 1.0 &#8211; Official Launch Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Palworld 1.0 &#8211; Official Launch Trailer<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TlKuyVq-WXA\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Even if Pocketpair&#8217;s Pok\u00e9mon-like survival-crafting game hasn&#8217;t gotten close to its early access launch&#8217;s figures, it&#8217;s a mighty impressive boost for a relaunch, as pointed out by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/paultassi\/2026\/07\/11\/both-palworld-and-palworld-10-are-in-steams-best-ever-playercount-list\/\">Forbes&#8217; Paul Tassi<\/a>. &#8220;To date, there has never been a similar situation of a relaunch hitting a figure like that, though a few expansions may count for forever-hits like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/playerunknowns-battlegrounds\">PUBG<\/a>.&#8221; He also underlined that the Asian markets have been boosting its numbers during hours when there&#8217;s typically less activity from the United States and Europe.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Notably, Palworld&#8217;s current tally puts it above one of Steam&#8217;s most consistently popular games: Valve&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/dota-2\">Dota 2<\/a>. Like Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2 is a free-to-play game, whereas Palworld is a premium title, so its success &#8211; despite a paid barrier to entry &#8211; is considerable.<\/p>\n<p>This might indicate that there was a sizable audience waiting for the Pok\u00e9mon-inspired sandbox title to exit early access before jumping in. For all the controversies surrounding it &#8211; such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/nintendo-pocketpair-palworld-touchscreen-patent\">the ongoing legal battles with Nintendo<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/even-we-can-get-swept-up-in-the-negativity-pocketpair-reflects-on-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-for-palworlds-second-anniversary\">Pocketpair has managed to please most of the community for over two years<\/a>, which is no small feat if we consider how hard to please players of live service games can be. It could also be argued that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/palworld-full-release-price\">Pocketpair deciding against raising the price for the full launch<\/a> &#8211; in combination with a limited-time 30 percent-off deal &#8211; might have helped it reach more players.<\/p>\n<p>In Palworld, players fight, farm, build, and work alongside creatures called Pals (not Pok\u00e9mon) in an open world, which can be explored and exploited alone or online. By September 2025, <a href=\"https:\/\/alineaanalytics.substack.com\/p\/dying-light-the-beast-hades-and-so\">it had sold over 25m copies<\/a>. At launch, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/is-palworld-actually-any-good-of-course-not\">Eurogamer&#8217;s Chris Tapsell wasn&#8217;t impressed by Palworld<\/a> and said it was &#8220;a product designed to be sold, rather than to be played&#8221;, derivative approach aside.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>After a long wait, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/palworld\">Palworld<\/a> has finally hit 1.0 on PC and consoles, and while it hasn&#8217;t managed to replicate its massive 2.1m concurrent player peak from early 2024, it&#8217;s currently one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/charts\/mostplayed\">most played games on Steam<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>At the time of writing, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/palworld-beginner-tips-tricks-9409\">Palworld<\/a> is second with 489,007 players and an 855,525 one-day peak, behind only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/counter-strike-two\">Counter-Strike 2<\/a>. It&#8217;s the open-world survival game&#8217;s best-ever concurrent player count since it first welcomed players.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Palworld 1.0 - Official Launch Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TlKuyVq-WXA?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/TlKuyVq-WXA\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Palworld 1.0 &#8211; Official Launch Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Palworld 1.0 &#8211; Official Launch Trailer<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TlKuyVq-WXA\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Even if Pocketpair&#8217;s Pok\u00e9mon-like survival-crafting game hasn&#8217;t gotten close to its early access launch&#8217;s figures, it&#8217;s a mighty impressive boost for a relaunch, as pointed out by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/paultassi\/2026\/07\/11\/both-palworld-and-palworld-10-are-in-steams-best-ever-playercount-list\/\">Forbes&#8217; Paul Tassi<\/a>. &#8220;To date, there has never been a similar situation of a relaunch hitting a figure like that, though a few expansions may count for forever-hits like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/playerunknowns-battlegrounds\">PUBG<\/a>.&#8221; He also underlined that the Asian markets have been boosting its numbers during hours when there&#8217;s typically less activity from the United States and Europe.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Notably, Palworld&#8217;s current tally puts it above one of Steam&#8217;s most consistently popular games: Valve&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/dota-2\">Dota 2<\/a>. Like Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2 is a free-to-play game, whereas Palworld is a premium title, so its success &#8211; despite a paid barrier to entry &#8211; is considerable.<\/p>\n<p>This might indicate that there was a sizable audience waiting for the Pok\u00e9mon-inspired sandbox title to exit early access before jumping in. For all the controversies surrounding it &#8211; such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/nintendo-pocketpair-palworld-touchscreen-patent\">the ongoing legal battles with Nintendo<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/even-we-can-get-swept-up-in-the-negativity-pocketpair-reflects-on-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-for-palworlds-second-anniversary\">Pocketpair has managed to please most of the community for over two years<\/a>, which is no small feat if we consider how hard to please players of live service games can be. It could also be argued that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/palworld-full-release-price\">Pocketpair deciding against raising the price for the full launch<\/a> &#8211; in combination with a limited-time 30 percent-off deal &#8211; might have helped it reach more players.<\/p>\n<p>In Palworld, players fight, farm, build, and work alongside creatures called Pals (not Pok\u00e9mon) in an open world, which can be explored and exploited alone or online. By September 2025, <a href=\"https:\/\/alineaanalytics.substack.com\/p\/dying-light-the-beast-hades-and-so\">it had sold over 25m copies<\/a>. At launch, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/is-palworld-actually-any-good-of-course-not\">Eurogamer&#8217;s Chris Tapsell wasn&#8217;t impressed by Palworld<\/a> and said it was &#8220;a product designed to be sold, rather than to be played&#8221;, derivative approach aside.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Palworld Palworld barges Dota 2 aside as PC player counts skyrocket following the game&#8217;s 1.0 release Gotta catch &#8217;em all. Image credit: Pocketpair News by Fran Ruiz Contributor Published on July 13, 2026 5 comments Follow Palworld After a long wait, Palworld has finally hit 1.0 on PC and consoles, and while it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-2040773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2040773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040773\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2040773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2040773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2040773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}