Palworld devs explain key issues holding Xbox version back

Palworld has racked up millions of players in only a few days but those playing on its Xbox or Microsoft Store versions are missing out. Developers addressed players’ concerns and elaborated on why these versions are currently worse off.

Palworld exploded onto the gaming scene in a manner that is nearly unparalleled. Its record-breaking rise through Steam’s concurrent player rankings saw it oust games like Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077 in a matter of days.

Developer Pocketpair had to have an emergency meeting with Epic to address the stress on their servers after announcing that Palworld had sold over 4 million copies in just three days. Even more impressively, the game dropped day one on Xbox Game Pass and we don’t yet have official numbers for a player count on the platform.

Unfortunately for Palworld players on its Game Pass and Microsoft Store versions, the game has fallen behind its Steam counterpart. Initially reported by Windows Central, Palworld’s Community Manager Bucky has taken to the game’s Discord server to explain the issue.

“The versions of the game are not the same between Steam and Xbox. That is to say, Steam v1.2 and Xbox v1.2 are not the same thing,” Bucky clarified. “There seems to be some confusion that Steam and Xbox are ‘missing features’. That isn’t entirely true.”

According to Palworld’s incredibly busy Community Manager, there are two primary issues affecting the Xbox version of the game. Microsoft’s Xbox consoles have a “different architecture” to PC and this is actually impacting the Microsoft Store version of Palworld on PC as well.

In conversation with a player asking about the hold-up for fixes on Microsoft’s platforms, Bucky explained that the reason was due to certain roadblocks for update approvals. “We’re really at the mercy of the certification here. We’re desperately trying to speed this up,” they qualified.

In response to calls for a hotfix on Xbox consoles, Bucky reiterated that the update is complete but still held up due to certification issues. “On Steam [the hotfix was] applied two days ago. On Xbox, [it’s] sitting in the MS certification queue.”

For now, the best way to experience Palworld is via Steam on a PC if you have access to one. Unfortunately for those that don’t, there’ll be a wait for each update as they arrive. Hopefully, Palworld’s success will make it a priority for Microsoft.

Eventually, Pocketpair hopes to be able to bring the Microsoft Store and Steam versions of the game into alignment. “The goal is to bring [both platforms] to the exact same place,” Bucky revealed. “This won’t be achievable until crossplay is fully compatible.”