Palworld Dev Dismisses Hate as Easy 500k Views With Zero Impact on the Game
It is what it is — a three-word shrug from the top that lands like a verdict: don’t expect quick fixes.
Palworld keeps racking up players and praise, and also keeps catching flak. The studio doesn’t seem bothered. In fact, Pocketpair’s community boss basically says the online outrage machine is mostly noise, not a problem.
So… is the hate hurting Palworld?
Short answer from Pocketpair’s global community manager John 'Bucky' Buckley: no. He jumped into a thread on October 20, 2025, replying to a fan who said the pile-ons feel more performative than real. Buckley’s read is that the drama lives on social feeds, not in the actual player base. And yes, he brought receipts.
'My life is Palworld 24/7, and I promise you, you only ever see people ranting about it on Twitter and Bluesky... It’s an easy 500k views, which is why it’ll always be topical to whinge about. It is what it is. Doesn’t actually have any impact on the game or community.'
To underline the point, he posted a Steam screenshot showing the game’s reception on Valve’s platform: overall 'Overwhelmingly Positive' and 'Very Positive' for recent reviews, each with thousands behind them. He followed that up with another post that basically amounted to 'we’re doing just fine' and, based on the numbers, he’s not wrong.
The current scoreboard
- Steam user scores: 95% positive overall; 94% positive in recent reviews
- Review tags: 'Overwhelmingly Positive' overall; 'Very Positive' recent
- SteamDB ranking right now: #64 among most-played
- 24-hour peak players: 45,189
- All-time peak players: 2,101,867
- Version 1.0: targeting next year
The controversy isn’t new — and it probably helped
Palworld’s had a target on its back since it blew up, from other developers side-eyeing the creature-collector vibes to a legal fight that put it under a much bigger microscope. Around a year ago, The Pokemon Company filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair. That case pulled Nintendo into the conversation too, and at least one US IP expert publicly blasted Nintendo’s stance that mods don’t affect its Pokemon patents — calling that argument 'just a loser argument' and a 'Hail Mary' in the ongoing battle.
Whether you think the design overlap is homage or over the line, the audience has clearly voted with their time and wallets. If Buckley’s read is right, the social-media dogpiles generate views, not drop-offs. And with 1.0 on the horizon, Palworld looks more likely to level up than fade out.