Palworld Surges Back, Overtaking One of Steam’s Most Legendary Titles in Player Count

Many had written off Palworld’s runaway success as a fleeting moment of 2024 gaming hype, but Pocketpair has just proven otherwise. Barely a week after the 1.0 version’s official launch, the title has climbed to the top of Steam’s ranking, reaching a milestone that only a select handful of games can claim.

Over the weekend, Palworld peaked at nearly one million simultaneous players, becoming one of Valve’s most played games.

Palworld Overtakes Dota 2 on Steam

According to SteamDB tracking, Palworld has become the platform’s second-most-played game trailing only Counter-Strike 2.

This also means it has overtaken Dota 2, a historical mainstay of Steam’s leaderboards. Notably, this marks the second consecutive weekend that Pocketpair’s title has accomplished that feat.

While the current numbers remain a far cry from the game’s breathtaking all-time record of 2.1 million concurrent users, set during its explosive January 2024 debut, the post-1.0 successfully reignited broad audience interest.

Palworld’s achievement becomes even more striking when placed alongside other Steam juggernauts. To date, only three titles have ever crossed the 2-million concurrent-player threshold on the platform: PUBG: Battlegrounds, Black Myth: Wukong, and Palworld itself.

In addition, just five other games have managed to surpass 1 million concurrent users: Counter-Strike 2, Monster Hunter Wilds, Lost Ark, Dota 2, and Cyberpunk 2077.

Plus, many of those competing titles are free-to-play, whereas Palworld remains a paid experience.

A Success Despite Nintendo’s Lawsuit

Prior to launch, Palworld had earned the unofficial moniker “Pokémon with guns”, a comparison that ultimately prompted Nintendo and The Pokémon Company to file a patent-infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair.

In response, the studio implemented several changes during early access, including the removal of the Pal Sphere-throwing summoning mechanic, which bore a strong resemblance to Poké Balls, as well as design revisions for multiple creatures that closely mirrored existing Pokémon designs.

Nevertheless, the development team saw the project through to completion, officially debuting version 1.0 on July 10, successfully rekindling enthusiasm among thousands of players worldwide.

What do you think about Palworld’s success? Do you expect it to remain at the top of Steam’s rankings for the foreseeable future? Share your thoughts in the comments below.