Palworld developer pushed back on criticism for its early access label. Read on to learn more about how Pocketpair values the importance of early access releases and other games that benefited from this process.
Palworld Early Access Release’s Importance to Its Development
Making the Game Even Better
Earlier this week, Palworld’s early access label received criticism following Pocketpair’s announcement that the game will release its version 1.0 next year. Pocketpair Global Community Manager John "Bucky" Buckley, however, pushed back and highlighted the importance of launching in early access, noting that it is a way to make the game even better.
Responding to video game journalist Chris Scullion on Twitter (X) on September 18, Bucky went against the notion that games that are popular enough should just ditch the "Early Access gimmick." He stated that releasing Palworld as early access is a means for the developers to gather critical player feedback for the game, and the team has taken heed of this to improve the game.
Bucky explained, "We’re not silly enough to think we know best. Our players are constantly coming up with ideas and suggestions for how to make Palworld more fun, and we’d be insane to ignore that."
While Palworld has been played by millions of people since it was released for early access on January 19, 2024, he emphasized that it is still a work in progress. "Games only get better when the players are involved," Bucky said.
Early Access Success of Other Games
Beyond explaining the importance of early access releases, Bucky also mentioned several titles that have benefited from this process, including Hades, Valheim, Baldur’s Gate 3, V Rising, Satisfactory, Enshrouded, and more.
He admitted that people’s reaction to most early access titles may be negative due to several "failures, scams and runaways," but he wanted to point out that there are a bunch of successes too. Scullion replied, clarifying their stance on the matter, which led to a friendly exchange between them.
Another commenter echoed Scullion’s sentiment, stating that popular early access titles with so many sales and players should exclude themselves from that label. They also gave Fortnite as an example, which was in beta/early access for approximately three years before having its full release in 2020.
Bucky jokingly said that they didn’t plan to have over 32 million players in the game’s first year, although he acknowledged their argument. He stated, "Well, I can somewhat get where he is coming from, but it feels a bit similar to the ‘It isn't indie if it made lots of money’ argument, too. It just rings a bit hollow to me personally."
Regardless, Pocketpair is gearing towards leaving early access and will tone down its remaining updates for the year as preparation. Palworld is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam. To know more about its gameplay and story, check out our article below!
Source:
John Buckley Twitter (X) post on Pushback on Palworld’s Early Access Label
John Buckley Twitter (X) reply on Amount of Sales/Players in Defining an Early Access Title
