Why Palworld might be the best thing to ever happen to Pokemon

For years, videogame prophets have foreseen the downfall of Pokemon and the rise of a newer, more exciting monster-hunting game to take its place.

Mostly, these people have been as accurate as a drunk trying to throw a Poke Ball in Pokemon Go. Still, that was before the release of Palworld, a game that’s taken the world by storm and might just have Pokemon’s developers, Game Freak, worried.

Set in an open world full of cute little critters called ‘Pals,’ Palworld is a survival game where players capture these monsters and use them to build bases, mine resources, and throw down with other trainers. At the time of writing, Palworld has sold an eye-watering 6 million copies and, according to TwitchTracker, is the fourth most-watched game on Twitch. Not bad for a game that’s not even been out a week.

Palworld, the Pokemon killer

With that in mind, is Palworld the game that will finally dethrone Pokemon as the premier creature-collecting game? Honestly? Probably not. While these two monster games share a fair amount of DNA, if you put them both under a microscope, you’ll find some stark differences.

Obviously, there’s a difference in genre. The core Pokemon games are ultimately story-focused RPGs, while Palworld is more like Ark: Survival Evolved, where the emphasis is on survival and crafting. Sure, Pokemon and Palworld focus on hunting monsters, but neither invented that idea (Megami Tensei paved the way for the genre).

Beyond that, there’s a difference in tone. Pokemon is clearly targeting a younger audience and is far more family-friendly. In contrast, Palworld is deliberately more adult – earning the nickname “Pokemon with guns” – and goes out of its way to poke fun at the Donphan in the Poke Center of all creature-collecting games – animal exploitation.

It seems then that Palworld is unlikely to put a dent in Pokemon’s fandom or sales; the two series are operating in wildly different worlds. With that in mind, though, the popularity of Palworld might actually be a good thing for Pokemon. In fact, it could be the best thing to happen to the franchise since Atsuko Nishida came into work with an idea for a certain electric mouse.

Pokemon needs to evolve

You see, the one thing that Pokemon fans online have wanted for years is innovation or evolution. These fans have been playing the series since Blue and Red, and they’re bored of the rut the main series Pokemon games have fallen into. They want to ditch the slightly stale story of rivals, Gym Leaders, and Champions and instead believe the games should try something new and exciting.

There have been attempts at this by Game Freak – most notably, Pokemon Legends: Arceus was a significant break from the series’ standard blueprint – but for the most part, innovation has been gradual, and new features have been implemented and refined over time. This has been a bugbear for many in the community who want GameFreak to take an evolution stone to Pokemon so it quickly gets to the next stage.

Where does Palworld come in? Well, while it’s unlikely Palworld will impact Nintendo’s bottom dollar too much, competition is a good thing. It forces companies out of comfortable complacency and makes them adapt. That’s not to say that Game Freak will immediately start work on the long-hoped-for Pokemon Legends sequel or its own survival game, but Palworld’s success might force the team working on these games to take some risks and bring in long-demanded features more quickly.

While that might be too much to hope for, there’s also the chance that Palworld will help Game Freak realize that while its core audience is younger fans, there’s a whole horde of older Pokemon groupies (with plenty of disposable income) out there who are chomping at the bit for something a little more mature. This hypothetical spin-off doesn’t have to involve guns, violence, and other ‘adult’ themes, but maybe there can be a game that goes beyond the idea that everything’s rainbows and sunshine in the world of Pokemon.

That’s why Palworld’s such an exciting game. Not because it will deliver a knockout blow to the franchise and send Game Freak running into the arms of Nurse Joy, but because it can potentially deliver a Pikachu-style shock to the franchise and spark some new life into this beloved series.