How to play Palworld, the controversial Pokémon clone everyone’s talking about

The game is still in early access, but it has already amassed a huge number of players

The game hasn’t been without its controversy (iStock/Pocket Pair/The Independent )

It’s not every day you see an indie game amass enough players to completely dominate Steam’s charts, but the action-adventure game Palworld, which is being dubbed “Pokémon with guns”, is currently the top game on the platform, with almost two million people playing the game at one time.

According to Palworld’s developer Pocket Pair, the game has sold over seven million copies within five days of its launch. Similar to Pokémon, you catch and collect little monsters with differing abilities who battle for you, but unlike Pokémon, those little creatures can also scavenge, craft tools and be put to work.

The resulting open-world action-adventure game is what you’d find if you shoved Minecraft, Fortnite, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Pokémon into a blender. You try and survive your time on the Palpagos Islands by building shelters, cooking, farming, gathering resources and catching Pals, and playing either solo or online with up to 31 other trainers – sorry, I mean Pal tamers.

An edgier version of Nintendo’s biggest hit, your Pals can be equipped with rifles, be sold on the black market, and once they have outrun their usefulness, they can literally be butchered using a meat cleaver.   

The game has not been without controversy, however. People have accused the Tokyo-based firm of ripping off creature designs from Pokémon, while others have claimed that the studio used generative AI to develop the game. None of these claims have been verified, with Pocket Pair’s CEO Takuro Mizobe asking users not to “slander his artists” on Twitter/X. 

Those allegations haven’t stopped the meteoric rise of the indie game. Technically still in early access, you can currently play Palworld with an Xbox Games Pass or on PC via Steam.

How to play ‘Palworld’ on Xbox

One of the Pals resembles a chubby Pikachu (Pocket Pair )

Xbox gamers can currently play Palworld for free with a subscription to Xbox Game Pass. A monthly subscription to Game Pass Ultimate costs £12.99 per month, but Microsoft currently has a deal on the subscription service (was £12.99 per month, now £1 for 14 days, Xbox.com).   

If you don’t have an Xbox Game Pass subscription, Palworld will cost you £24.99 to buy and play. Users playing both Steam and Xbox versions have noticed that there are differences between the two, with the Xbox version’s feature set potentially months behind the Steam version. 

Play Palworld on Xbox now

How to play ‘Palworld’ on PC

There are over 100 different Pals with varying abilities (Pocket Pair )

PC gamers wanting to play Palworld can purchase the game on Steam. The store is currently running an introductory offer on the title, saving you 10 per cent (was £24.99, now £22.49, Steampowered.com).

Play Palworld on Steam now

Voucher codes

For discounts on games and offers on consoles, try the links below:

• AO discount codes
• Very discount codes

Looking to upgrade your machine? Have a read of our round-up of the best games consoles