Palworld 1.0: Release Date, Times, Price, and Content Coming

Image via Pocketpair

Palworld is finally leaving Early Access behind, with developer Pocketpair confirming that the 1.0 update will go live this Friday, 10th July.

The game has been one of the biggest survival hits since it launched into Early Access back in 2024, and now the wait for a full release is almost over.

When exactly does Palworld 1.0 launch?

The official Palworld X account has cleared that up, confirming the update is expected to go live at 12:30pm on Friday in Japan, where the studio is based. That's not a locked in exact time, so players should expect things to land somewhere around then rather than to the minute.

For everyone outside Japan, here's how that release time roughly breaks down across other regions:

• Los Angeles (PT): July 9, 8:30 PM

• New York (ET): July 10, 11:30 AM

• London (BST): July 10, 4:30 PM

• Berlin (CEST): July 10, 5:30 PM

• Riyadh (AST): July 10, 6:30 PM

• New Delhi (IST): July 10, 9:00 PM

• Beijing (CST): July 10, 11:30 PM

• Sydney (AEST): July 11, 1:30 AM

Will the price go up after 1.0?

No, and Pocketpair has been pretty clear about it. The studio confirmed it isn't raising Palworld's price following the full release, keeping it at $29.99. In its own words, Pocketpair said, "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."

Right now, the game is discounted by 30% on Steam, bringing it down to around $21, though that sale wraps up on July 9, just before 1.0 goes live.

Do returning players need to buy the game again? No. If you already own Palworld on any platform, the 1.0 update is completely free.

There also don't appear to be any special editions tied to the launch, this is shaping up to be a standard full release update for everyone.

What's actually new in the 1.0 update?

According to Pocketpair, this is the biggest update Palworld has ever received, spanning roughly 27 pages of patch notes. It's not just new content either, plenty of existing systems are getting reworked from the ground up. Here's what's included:

• World Tree + Sky Islands - A major new endgame region (with surrounding islands) that roughly doubles map size in some estimates. It includes new story content and narrative beats.

• More new Pals than any prior single update (Paldeck reportedly exceeds 200 entries). Confirmed/teased examples: fire-dragon type, panda companion (e.g., Leafan), sky-dragon Legendary, giant whale, sword-shaped eel Pal (wieldable as a two-handed weapon).

• Wing Pack - New traversal/glider system.

• Genetic Recombination breeding system overhaul.

• Reworked Tower Bosses, raid mechanics, Wildlife Sanctuaries (with individual ecosystems), improved combat, new weapons/armor/gear, offshore building, new base structures, and more.

• PvP mode

Save files: No forced wipe, existing saves are compatible and carry over. However, Pocketpair recommends starting a new character for the best experience with new systems and content.

Regarding mods, the developer says they may "cause issues." To prevent crashes or corrupted saves, Pocketpair recommends "temporarily removing all installed mods before updating the game."

The legal drama and the player milestone

Palworld's launch wasn't without controversy. Early on, players jokingly dubbed it "Pokémon with guns" thanks to some undeniable similarities to Nintendo's franchise. Nintendo didn't find it as funny, and ended up suing Pocketpair over alleged patent infringement, which forced the developer to strip out its Pokeball style summoning mechanic in a later patch.

That legal battle is still ongoing, with no clear resolution in sight just yet. Interestingly, Pocketpair's side of the argument appears to be holding up noticeably better in court compared to Nintendo's.

On a brighter note, the game passed 40 million players right before its 1.0 launch, a huge jump from the 32 million it had reached back in February last year.

Where can you play Palworld 1.0?

Here's a quick breakdown of platform availability at launch:

• PC (Steam and Microsoft Store)

• PlayStation 5

• Xbox Series X|S

• Xbox One

Crossplay is supported across all of these platforms.

Palworld has been available on PS5 since late 2024, and 1.0 will launch there simultaneously with everywhere else.

Sadly, the game is not available on Nintendo Switch / Switch 2 (obviously), PS4, or mobile (coming soon with the help of Krafton).

Notably, 1.0 is also launching day one on Xbox Game Pass, covering both PC and console, including cloud where it's supported. Existing Game Pass subscribers will get the full release included as part of their subscription (Ultimate, Premium, and PC Pass), no extra purchase needed.