Video Games

Pokemon-with-guns game Palworld has PC, Game Pass release date

Pew-pewkemon

Josh Broadwell

Pokemon-with-guns game Palworld has PC, Game Pass release date
Pokemon-with-guns game Palworld has PC, Game Pass release date /

Pocketpair announced a Palworld early access release date on Steam and said the Pokemon-like game is an Xbox Game Pass day one launch as well. You can check out Palworld in early access on PC and Xbox starting Jan. 19, 2024.

We say Palworld is like a Pokemon game, but that’s maybe a generous comparison.

It’s like Pokemon if Pokemon had guns, encouraged Team Rocket-style poaching, sanctioned rampant industrialization at the expense of wildlife, and included Pokemon who liked having nights of intense passion with anyone they met. Basically, Palworld is a bunch of things you think are naughty and edgy in your teenage years, bundled together and painted over with a cute cartoon aesthetic.

Anyway, the Palworld launch trailer shows a bit more of that cartoony world and what you do in it. We see a trainer capturing creatures in real time, not unlike the system Game Freak implemented for Pokemon Legends: Arceus. 

There’s a cozy little farm with enslaved critters doing all your work for you. One of them set a building on fire, while another is cooking its friend in a pot

Then there’s the guns. When you aren’t catching Pals, you’re shooting them with rifles, tanks, and a range of other high-powered armaments. We’re not sure if there’s a story underneath all this or even a purpose. Pocketpair said you can live peacefully or fight a poaching syndicate – but you can also join a poaching syndicate. All of this and more you can do with friends in online multiplayer, along with dungeon exploration and in-depth Pal breeding-slash-genetic alteration.

Pocketpair hasn’t indicated how long Palworld will remain in early access, but the team said it will take feedback during early access and use it to improve the final product.

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Josh Broadwell
JOSH BROADWELL

Josh is a freelance writer and reporter who specializes in guides, reviews, and whatever else he can convince someone to commission. You may have seen him on NPR, IGN, Polygon, or Rolling Stone shouting about RPGs. When he isn’t working, you’ll likely find him outside with his Belgian Malinois and Australian Shepherd or leveling yet another job in FFXIV.

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