Palworld developer Pocketpair has announced that the game will leave early access and launch its 1.0 version in 2026. Additionally, the studio teased that while the bulk of the team is working on updates, improvements, and more content for Palworld, the company also has smaller teams at work on new games.

Cleanup

Palworld 1.0 isn’t launching sooner because Pocketpair is spending time now working on “cleanup” for the existing game.

“Beyond just adding new content, there is a lot of clean up that needs to be done before Palworld can exit early access. It’s no secret that Palworld has a lot of quirks and jank, and we want to take the time to properly address those before releasing the game,” the developer said. “We think taking the time now to fix those problems will ultimately lead to a better game.”

Pocketpair will remain mostly quiet for the remainder of 2025 as these efforts are underway, the studio said, while also cautioning fans that the Winter 2025 update won’t be as big as the Feybreak update in December 2024.

The studio went on to say that it has a “few surprises” planned for the Winter 2025 update for Palworld and that people should know that Pocketpair is “not slowing down or scaling back–quite the opposite.”

Palworld 1.0

For the 1.0 release of Palworld, Pocketpair said fans can expect a “truly massive amount of content,” and it’s going to take time to get it all ready for release.

“Rather than rushing it, we believe that laying the right foundation now will lead to a better game in the end,” the developer said, adding that it will reveal sneak peeks at some of the 1.0 content relatively soon.

The Palworld Steam early access FAQ states that the price of the game might increase before 1.0. Right now, Palworld is discounted from $30 to $22.50, a deal that runs through September 22.

New games

Pocketpair’s biggest and best-known game is, of course, Palworld, and the company plans to continue to grow and evolve the game over time. Simultaneously, the studio is plotting what may come next.

“As the company grows, we continue to experiment with other ideas for games,” the developer said. There are “several smaller teams” inside Pocketpair working on new game ideas that “hopefully” turn into read products, the developer said, adding that more information about these efforts will come soon.

This is separate from Pocketpair’s new Pocketpair Publishing division that seeks to help fund and market games from other studios.

Palworld history

Palworld launched in January 2024 for Xbox and PC, quickly becoming a massive hit, thanks in part to its inclusion with Xbox Game Pass. The game was a fast success, reaching millions of sales and installs, but the launch was marred with controversy over plagiarism claims and other concerns. The game bears a striking resemblance to Pokemon, and The Pokemon Company and Nintendo teamed up to sue Pocketpair, not for copyright infringement as some expected, but rather patent infringement claims.

Pocketpair subsequently made big changes to Palworld, like removing Pal Spheres–monster-catching items that were very similar to Poke Balls–and the ability to glide with a Pal. Speaking about the ongoing lawsuit earlier this year, community manager John Buckley said it was a “very depressing day” for the studio when it got sued.

Palworld later launched on PS5 in September 2024 and came to Mac in March 2025. Pocketpair would also go on to partner with Sony for Palworld merch.

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