Palworld is not a scam, say the makers of Palworld

We didn’t think it was, but thanks, I guess

Palworld is not a scam, the makers of Palworld assured everyone on the Pokemon-like game’s Steam page. That’s good news for anyone who thought it was a scam, I guess, but the prospect of Pocketpair pulling the rug out from everyone never really crossed our minds – well, until now.

Pocketpair published a pre-launch Palworld FAQ page on Steam (thanks, GamesRadar) and plunked the oddball question at the end of a bunch of normal ones, questions such as whether Palworld is on PS5 (not now, maybe later) and whether additional language support might happen in the future (no).

“Is this game a scam?” Pocketpair asked itself. “Or is it a money-making MMO or virtual currency game?”

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

The virtual currency game part is valid. More than one publisher or development studio has tried selling their crypto game to media and consumers by burying the fact that it’s a crypto game somewhere obscure. Palworld is not a crypto game, so don’t expect any Axie Infinity-style nonsense here.

Every game, MMO games included, exists to make money, but I’m guessing “money-making MMO” is a jab at Amazon and Smilegate’s Lost Ark. Lost Ark draws a fair bit of – justified – criticism for its free-to-play antics that push people toward spending money just to progress further. Palworld isn’t that. It’s a premium game, though Pocketpair didn’t say whether Palworld will have microtransactions like other premium games have started experimenting with, including Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

Scam games aren’t exactly common, though this part of Pocketpair’s question actually does make sense in light of recent events. Bluebox made all manner of promises and toyed with horror game fans’ expectations about Abandoned to the point where some ridiculous theories were floating around on Reddit, and it turned out the game essentially didn’t exist. More recently, Fantastic broke its promises with The Day Before and even pulled the game from Steam days after it launched.

So if you were concerned about that, Pocketpair says don’t worry. Palworld isn’t that kind of game either.

Palworld launches on Steam, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox Game Pass on Jan. 19, 2024.

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