Palworld developer teases apparent PlayStation port

Posted on June 25, 2024

Palworld, Pocketpair’s phenomenally successful Pokémon-like which released earlier this year on Xbox and PC in Early Access, may be coming to PlayStation, as suggested by a recent social media post by the development studio’s Global Community Manager.

In the post on X, Bucky, Pocketpair’s Global Community Manager, added blue-colored hearts to Palworld’s existing black, green, and white hearts. With the black, green and white hearts seemingly representing PC, Xbox and Mac respectively, the three platforms on which the game is currently available, it wouldn’t a stretch to interpret the addition of a blue heart, a colour long associated with PlayStation’s branding, as an oblique tease at a future port. This social media post comes just days before the release of Palworld’s first major update, Sakurajima. The update adds a new area to explore, the island of Sakurajima, along with a higher level cap, new Pals, a new raid, as well as a new faction and boss.

Palworld has already sold 1 million units on its existing platforms within its first week of Early Access release. However, it wouldn’t be a stretch for even a successful Microsoft exclusive to jump ship and release on PlayStation as well. This has become a recent trend, with famous Xbox titles such as Sea of Thieves and Hi-Fi Rush releasing PS5 ports earlier this year. With the soaring cost of game development making any cash incentives console manufacturers can offer not justify keeping games tied to a single platform, it has become common for both Xbox exclusives to release on PlayStation, and for PlayStation exclusives to release on PC.

At any rate, Pocketpair has yet to make any formal announcements of any new ports for Palworld. It’s probably not worth holding one’s breath for a Nintendo Switch port, if the apparent hostility of some Pokémon fans towards Palworld, and Nintendo’s reticence to greenlight a competitor to its own franchise, are anything to go by. It would certainly be nice to have more platforms to play the game on, but we will have to keep an eye out and see if the suggestion in this social media post turns out to become reality.