News Xbox Game Pass Hit Palworld Considering Free-To-Play Live Service Model

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Palworld has been a tremendous success on Xbox Game Pass and platforms like PC, but it's now at a point in development where the creator Pocketpair must make a tough decision about the model of the title going forward.

Speaking to ASCII Japan, the company CEO Takuro Mizobe mentioned how the development team is still not sure about what it is to do going forward. It's either going to complete it with a regular purchase model or swap it over to a live-service model, which would turn the game into a free-to-play title.

While a live service model would come with benefits, there are also admittedly "many challenges" (thanks for the translation, Automaton):

"When you think about it from a business perspective, making (Palworld) a live-service game would extend its lifespan and make it more stable in terms of profitability. However, the game was not initially designed with that approach in mind, so there would be many challenges involved in taking it down the live-service path"

In the same interview, Mizobe acknowledged the fact it can take a long time to swap over a game to a live-service model, even if it's "good for business".

The team has also considered "monetizing the game by running ads", but the CEO believes the "most important thing" is to listen to players and the community.

So in short, it's still up in the air right now, but future developments of Palworld could take a different direction.

What are your thoughts about the idea of Palworld as a free-to-play game? Would you rather it sticks with the current model? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.