By January 19, 2026, Palworld would have spent exactly 2 years in Early Access. Poketpair has now announced that the game will be leaving Early Access in 2026 with a version 1.0 update, although the exact date has not been revealed.
Bucky, Pocketpair communications director and publishing manager
“📢About Palworld Ver. 1.0,” the developer posted on X. “Hello everyone. Palworld will officially release (Ver. 1.0) in 2026. We are currently developing a massive amount of content for this milestone, and also planning some surprises for the rest of 2025.”
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Since the launch of Palworld into Early Access, the developer and publisher have supported the game with five major updates, introducing new mechanics and further improving the game in the process.
- Version 0.2 introduced Raids, which have shaped player experience to this day
- Version 0.3 came with the first new island, Sakurajima, as well as many new Pals
- Version 0.4 transformed the experience with Feybreak. It introduced a large new landmass, a new faction, new pals, and many new mechanics
- Version 0.5 brought the vision of crossplay, which has been there from the beginning, to life. Players could finally play together on any device.
- Version 0.6 was a collaboration with Terraria called “Tides of Terraria”. It launched on June 25, 2025, and introduced new biomes, Pals, weapons, new raid bosses, and gameplay mechanics like Pal trust and fishing.
According to Bucky, Pocketpair communications director and publishing manager, Palworld still has a lot of “quirks and jank” that need to be cleaned before the game can leave Early Access. The developer hopes to begin that cleanup this year in preparation for the game’s official release next year.
What the latest Palworld announcement means for gamers
According to Bucky, the latest announcement “means that things will be a little quiet” around the game for the rest of the year. This is to give the small team of developers working on the game enough time to clean it up for a decent release.
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While the game will still get a Winter update (with surprises), it will not be as big as Feybreak. Contrary to what many may think, Bucky said unequivocally that the “development of Palworld is not slowing down or scaling back”.
The communications director noted that Palworld 1.0 would be a major milestone and that they have “a truly massive amount of content planned” for it. For anticipating fans, Bucky promised that they will “share some sneak peeks about Palworld 1.0 in the very near future”.
Since its Early Access launch, Palworld has attracted over 32 million players and has moved from Steam to Xbox and PlayStation. It attracted a massive 25 million players in its first month, according to Pocketpair. However, the game has faced several legal issues from The Pokémon Company for copyright infringement.
What are your expectations for Palword version 1.0? What features would you love to see or remove? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.
