Survival game “Pokémon With Guns” Palworld is currently thriving on Steam, where players can create and join dedicated servers that enable up to 32 players to play in the same world and create guilds together. However, on Xbox, co-op is much more limited.
Speaking on the Palword Discord, developer Pocketpair said that those playing on an Xbox console or Xbox PC through Game Pass or the Microsoft Store cannot create or join dedicated servers, meaning online co-op is limited to between two and four players.
“We would love to have dedicated servers on Xbox but unfortunately it is not our business and is very difficult to negotiate at this time!” A Pocketpair representative said. “But…we're trying!”
It's unclear what Pocketpair means when it says adding dedicated servers on Xbox is “not our thing,” when other games have dedicated servers on Xbox. IGN has requested comment.
It's a disappointing start for Palworld on Xbox and Windows PC, and comes as Palworld on Steam looks set to break concurrent player records ahead of the weekend. At the time of publishing this article, 318,000 accounts were flagged as playing Palword at the same time, making it the third most popular game on Steam. The lack of dedicated servers on Xbox will likely impact purchasing decisions for the platform, especially from customers hoping to play the game with a large group of friends.
Meanwhile, at launch, Xbox players will only be able to play together, not with players on Steam. “We are working to make this possibility possible as soon as possible!” The pocket said. This also means that PC Game Pass players cannot play using Steam until cross-play is added.
As for a PlayStation 5 version, Pocketpair said there are no plans at the moment, but that it will take it into consideration during development.
Here's how multiplayer in Palworld works: On Steam, you can play Palworld with up to three friends once you start and invite multiplayer (four-player co-op). Moreover, you can create a custom server, which will allow up to 32 players to play in the same world and create guilds together. There are also official servers managed by Pocketpair.
So, Xbox players don't have the same experience as Steam players, and currently can't play with Steam users. Parity is achieved across the fingers sooner rather than later.
Check out IGN's Palworld Early Access review to see what we think.
Wesley is IGN's UK news editor. You can find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can contact Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
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