Palworld Surpasses Counter-Strike, Securing Second Place as Steam’s Most-Played Game of All Time

Palworld has achieved remarkable success since its launch and has now become the second most popular game on Steam. Today, on January 23, Palworld reached an impressive milestone with 1,853,216 concurrent players on Steam, surpassing Valve’s Counter-Strike, as reported by SteamDB. While it currently stands as the second most-played game, PUBG still holds the top spot with a peak of 3,257,248 concurrent players during its glory days in the battle royale era.

Despite the uncertainty of Palworld reaching PUBG’s peak, its growing sales indicate the potential for even higher concurrent player numbers. It’s worth noting that Palworld was launched in early access and is expected to remain in this stage for a year, emphasizing ongoing development.

In the span of just four days, Palworld has sold an impressive six million copies across Xbox consoles and PC via Steam and Windows. The game also made its debut on Game Pass on the same day as its official launch on January 19.

Pocketpair expressed gratitude to players through a tweet, acknowledging the weekday gameplay engagement and assuring continuous efforts to enhance the gaming experience. However, the game’s success has not been without controversy, as Pocketpair reported receiving death threats in response to accusations of Palworld being a Pokémon “rip-off.” Nintendo also took swift action to remove a notable Pokémon mod. Palworld’s massive launch has led to server challenges, further highlighting its impact on the gaming community.

For a detailed perspective on Palworld’s early access experience, you can explore IGN’s ongoing Palworld Early Access Review.