Palworld isn't launching with Ark and Rust's "lawless open PVP" as "Palworld ain't that kinda game, gamer"

Palworld
(Image credit: Pocketpair)

Palworld's upcoming player-versus-player options won't suffer from "the same pitfalls" that irk other survival games, according to developer Pocketpair.

Pocketpair released a post-launch roadmap for the monster-taming survival game yesterday, promising endgame raids, additional islands, and most notably PvP. That roadmap hinted at both regular PvP and something called Pal Arena - "PvP for Pals" - worrying some survival game fans who don't want to be griefed while catching machinegun-wielding sheep.

"PvP in Palworld won't be PvP from Rust anyway," one developer comments on the game's Discord, in a message shared again on the subreddit post below. "There are 10 survival games on Steam monthly that launch with 'lawless open PvP' and none last more than a week," the note continues.

For those worried about PvP in Palworld being like Rust (Message is from Community Manager in Discord) from r/Palworld

"Palworld has a vision for PvP that will fit into the world without suffering from the same pitfalls [from] every other survival game." The message further promises that the game will never just have a "PvP toggle on, go nuts" option because "Palworld ain't that kinda game, gamer."

Pocketpair is seemingly taking steps to avoid the rampant griefing that annoys many players in games such as Rust or Ark, where you're mainly focused on watching your back the entire time rather than, you know, actually surviving and engaging with the other systems. What this looks like for Palworld is still unclear, though. Can I steal other player's Pals at any point? Can I capture other players themselves?

CEO Takuro Mizobe, in an interview with Automaton, previously said the team was considering "a format in which players can freely compete anywhere in the entire map in real-time," in addition to the Pal Arena's "competition format." We'll see how things shake up for the record-breaking hit over the coming weeks and months. 

Has the Pokemon-with-guns novelty worn off? Take a look at the 10 best games like Palworld for more creature-catching-crafting goodness.

Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.