Palworld’s Sakurajima update brings players back in droves

Palworld has seen a massive spike in returning players following the recent Sakurajima update, with a staggering 700% increase over recent weeks.

Palworld is back in the spotlight thanks to the jam-packed Sakurajima update. Players have been given a brand-new locale to explore as well as a number of new Pals to add to their team and Paldeck.

Outside of that, the introduction of new events like Supply Drops helps players gain access to newly added materials to craft never-before-seen items. The promise of more to do has been an enticing one it seems.

Checking in on Steam, Palworld has seen a 700% increase in concurrent player count. Hovering around the 15,000 mark prior to the Sakurajima update, the most recent surge saw a total of 143,369 Pal Tamers return.

Back at launch, Palworld was a global phenomenon that took the gaming world by storm. Its ‘Pokemon with guns’ concept proved immensely popular and turned the game into a viral hit unlike anything we’ve seen before or since.

At the height of its success, Palworld drew in an eye-watering 2,101,867 players making it the second-most concurrently played game of all time. All of this in the midst of controversy surrounding accusations of Pokemon plagiarism and AI usage.

It’s unlikely we’ll ever see numbers for Palworld approach these heights again. Still, the independently developed survival game cracking 100,000 players once more does prove there’s a dedicated audience for its brand of monster-catching shenanigans.

Developer Pocketpair isn’t planning to slow down the stream of content for the game. There are still a number of items discussed in the Palworld roadmap that have yet to launch including crossplay between Xbox and PC which will open up the new PVP arena dramatically.