Palworld 1.0 is right around the corner, and doubling down on developer Pocketpair's advice to players to start a fresh save file once the survival hit leaves early access, one dev says if it was up to him, "I would force wipe everyone."
After more than two years in early access, Palworld's 1.0 release date was announced last week during Summer Game Fest, and since then, Pocketpair has made it clear that although existing players won't be forced to wipe their potentially years-old save files, it's recommended that they do. The devs explained: "Due to the large number of changes to the game, including overhauls to mechanics and new content, we believe that starting a new character will give you the best experience of Palworld!"
John 'Bucky' Buckley – a designer on Palworld, and also Pocketpair's head of communication and publishing – already seconded this, but now, he's trying to drive home just how important he thinks it is in order to fully enjoy the 1.0 update. Reminding fans on the Palworld Discord server that early access players starting a fresh save doesn't benefit Pocketpair in any way, he explains: "We just strongly believe that, given the large amount of fundamental changes to basically every aspect of the game, it will be much more enjoyable to start from scratch.
"If you really really don't want to, that is absolutely fine, but we hope players will understand that they will realistically be missing out on content in 1.0 then, as it isn't just all Lv65+ stuff."
Bucky stands by this so much, in fact, he adds: "If it was up to ME, and only ME, I would force wipe everyone. Luckily for everyone, that is not my decision so...your saves are safe."
Pocketpair has ultimately left the decision in the hands of players because it wants to "respect the time and effort you have put in" – I'd definitely be reluctant if I had to face the idea of giving up tons of time, progress, and Pals – but it's well worth keeping Bucky's words in mind. If you end up "missing out on content," then 1.0 might not feel as big or special as it could do.
Expectations are bound to be high for Palworld 1.0, after all – while two-ish years might not be the longest wait for an early access game to get its full launch, Pocketpair has accumulated an enormous fanbase, all very keen to dive into the full experience. That day finally arrives on July 10, so there's less than a month to go.
