Summary
The video game industry has been enamored with some surprising titles recently, with the launches ofPalworldandHelldivers 2drawing huge amounts of attention. At face value, both of these titles seem worlds apart from each other, with one focusing on relaxed exploration and taming cute fictional creatures and the other seeing players engage in a brutal Galactic War against hordes of aliens and robots.
Despite this, the surprising success stories thatPalworldandHelldivers 2have written are very similar, both starting conversations around platform exclusivity and getting back to the roots of what players truly want. With both games breaking records and surpassing the expectations that many had placed on them,PalworldandHelldivers 2share a deep connection that has been forged through different avenues.
Palworld and Helldivers 2 Go Against the Grain of Industry Norms
Palworld’s release on January 19 marked the start of a phenomenon across the industry, with the game quickly amassing huge player counts in its opening days. Astonishingly,Palworldreached a Steam concurrent player count of 2.1 millionin its opening week, with this being the second-highest player peak in Steam’s history.
This massive level of success was made all the more surprising by the lack of former industry experience for Pocketpair, the company behindPalworld. Pocketpair indeed found some success with the release of 2020’sCraftopia, which itself has a Steam player peak of 26,000, but none of the company’s prior ventures suggested thatPalworldwould have such a dominant industry presence.
Helldivers 2is in a similar position due to the fact that its predecessor released in 2015, with the franchise fading into relative obscurity before the release of its latest game on February 8. Arrowhead Studios had not released any other games after the firstHelldivers, making thehuge player count ofHelldivers 2just as impressive asPalworld’s.
Palworld and Helldivers 2 Both Make Cases For Greater Platform Availability
Interestingly,Palworldis only available on Xbox and PC. This same issue has cropped up withHelldivers 2, asthe game has skipped Xbox for PlayStation and PC, meaning both major consoles have missed out on extremely popular titles over the past few months.Helldivers 2in particular has started a wide-spanning dialogue around console exclusivity, with fans wanting as many players as possible to join the Galactic fight, forming a rare bridge between the playerbases of Xbox and PlayStation.
As things stand, neitherPalworldnorHelldivers 2is expected to expand its console availability.
Anotherimportant element ofPalworldandHelldivers 2’s successstems from their respective price tags, with the former being available for $29.99 and the latter for $34.99. With the majority of AAA releases now costing $70 at their standard editions across the gaming industry, the comparatively cheaper price points ofPalworldandHelldivers 2have been a breath of fresh air. The bold steps that both titles have taken to move away from the norms of the industry have clearly paid off, withPalworldandHelldivers 2simultaneously rising to the top of the industry through their affordability, rich content, and platform availabilities.
Palworld
WHERE TO PLAY
In this game, you can peacefully live alongside mysterious creatures known as Pals or risk your life to drive off a ruthless poaching syndicate. Pals can be used to fight and breed, or they can be made to work on farms or factories. You can even sell them or eat them.Survival: In a harsh environment where food is scarce and vicious poachers roam, danger waits around every corner. To survive, you must tread carefully and make difficult choices…even if that means eating your own Pals when the time comes.Mounts & Exploration: Pals can be mounted to traverse the land, sea and sky—allowing you to traverse all kinds of environment as you explore the world.Collect all kinds of exciting Pals to fight, farm, build, and work for you in this completely new multiplayer, open world survival and crafting game!
