Palworld developer says playing the same game all the time is ‘not healthy’ for players or the industry

A member of the Palworld development team says it isn’t healthy to play the same game all the time, if it wasn’t created with long-term gameplay in mind.

Speaking to the Going Indie YouTube channel, the game’s community manager John Buckley, better known to players as Bucky, responded to claims that Palworld is a “dead game” because its daily peak concurrent player count is around 60,000, rather than the more than 2 million it hit at launch.

Buckley argued that the game was never designed to be played forever, and that doing so serves no purpose to players.

According to Buckley, if players continue to play the same title, it will enforce the belief among publishers and developers that more live service games are the way forward, diluting the market.

“I don’t think you need to be pushing yourself to play the same game all the time,” Buckley said.

“It’s not healthy for us, it’s not healthy for developers, it’s not healthy for gamers, it’s not healthy for gaming media.

“And it’s just not healthy for our industry, because the more we push this kind of narrative, the more very large companies are going to just say ‘gamers want more live service’.

“And we’re just going to get more of these soulless live service games that come out then get shut down 9-12 months later because they’re not making enough money. And we all lose in that case.”

Instead, Buckley said players should play a wider variety of games, especially indie games, to focus more on having fun than committing to a single game like Palworld.

“Play all the indies you can,” he said. “Spend as much money on indies as you can. Really, really support the guides who are trying to make fun games. Who cares if there’s only five people playing it? Just enjoy yourself. Just enjoy games. I don’t think it needs to be any more complex than that.”

This isn’t the first time Buckley has responded to discourse about Palworld’s dropping player count by encouraging players to broaden their horizons.

Back in February, Buckley advised fans to try playing other games while they wait for Palworld content updates, saying a drop in players is entirely fine because Palworld isn’t the sort of game designed to regularly give players new content.

“There are so many amazing games out there to play,” he said at the time. “You don’t need to feel guilty about hopping from game to game.

“If you are still playing Palworld, we love you. If you’re no longer playing Palworld, we still love you, and we hope you’ll come back for round 2 when you’re ready. Play lots of games, try different genres, and frequently flick through indie libraries to find hidden gem.”