Palworld hits 200,000 concurrent PC players less than 24 hours after it launched in early access

Palworld has rocketed past 200,000 concurrent players less than 24 hours after it first launched in early access.

According to the SteamDB tweet just below, Palworld smashed past 100,000 concurrent players virtually as soon as it launched in early access yesterday, January 18. Now though, SteamDB's actual website is showing Palworld has more than doubled than initial concurrent figure, hitting a peak of 224,607 concurrent players in the last 24 hours.

It's a fantastic launch for Palworld, and really demonstrates the attention the game has garnered for its bizarre 'Pokemon but with guns' pitch. It just goes to prove that an attention-grabbing elevator pitch like that for a game really can help propel it to new heights. 

Keep in mind these figures aren't affected by Palworld's inclusion in Xbox Game Pass for PC. That deal is strictly only available through the Microsoft Store on Windows, so it stands to reason that Palworld has actually garnered far more players on PC than what we're seeing here.

Palworld was a hit on Twitch earlier this week, and that was before it even launched. The game managed to accrue well over 85,000 viewers earlier this week on Wednesday, a full day before Palworld arrived, which at the time should've been a solid indicator of just how big the launch was going to be.

There's also new discoveries that have probably factored into Palworld being a hit. We all know by now about the Pokemon with guns thing, but did you know you can take human hostages and sell them to other players? Yes, Palworld has an incredibly dark side to it.

Check out our guide to the best starter Pals in Palworld if you're just hitting the ground running with the new game.