Pokémon rival Palword calls off price hike in W move for 1.0 launch

Palworld 1.0 will officially launch on July 10, leaving early-access and becoming a fully-fledged release. The devs aren’t letting it go to their heads, though.

The Pokémon rival has undergone a lot of change and just as much hardship since it was first released in 2024.

It was threatened with legal action for its resemblance to the Pokémon franchise, but was later cleared of any copyright infringement claims.

Now the game will undergo its biggest transformation yet, an evolution if you will, as Palworld 1.0 drops over 27 pages worth of new content and changes.

With so much new content heading to the game, it’d be easy for developer and publisher Pocketpair to inflate the price to that of a standard AAA, but on July 8, it proudly said otherwise.

Palworld 1.0 offers just as much content as Pokémon but without the $80 price-tag

Through a post on X Pocketpair addressed its fans days before the big 1.0 update, saying: “After much thought, we have decided not to raise the price of Palworld following the 1.0 release and will keep it at $29.99.”

The post continued: “We are incredibly proud of how far Palworld has come. Thanks to the amazing support of our players, it has become a success beyond our wildest dreams.

“As a small way of saying thank you, we'll be keeping the price at $29.99. Thank you for your continued support.”

After much thought, we have decided not to raise the price of Palworld following the 1.0 release and will keep it at $29.99.

We are incredibly proud of how far Palworld has come. Thanks to the amazing support of our players, it has become a success beyond our wildest dreams.

As… pic.twitter.com/ahOeIikMk0

— Palworld (@Palworld_EN) July 8, 2026

In a world full of $70-$80 price-tags this has been a breath of fresh air, especially when Pokémon Winds and Waves is feared to cost $80 at launch.

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Those who’ve already bought the game via early-access can of course, upgrade to the 1.0 release for free as well, no need to buy it for a second time. Xbox owners can also play it at no additional cost via their Xbox Game Pass subscriptions.

For those who don’t have Xbox Game Pass on their console or PC, or those who’d rather own a copy of the game rather than rent one, you can actually grab Palworld at a decent discount on Steam right now.

The Steam Summer Sale is currently listing the game for 30% off, meaning you can get ready for the 1.0 update for a mere $20.99/£17.49. This offer expires by the end of the day though, so act fast if you’re interested.

All in all, the decision to retain Palworld’s current price has been a big win for Pocketpair and of course, the fans.

Over the last couple of years, Pocketpair has won good favour with its community for several fantastic updates to the game and has constantly taken on board player feedback.

Palworld 1.0 is going to be the biggest update yet, but there’s likely plenty more to come. You’ll be able to play the new update from July 10 onwards.

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