Update [Sun 15th Sep, 2024 12:00 BST]:
Pocketpair has responded to the recent headlines regarding the idea of Palworld going free-to-play. The interview published earlier this week where the company CEO spoke about this was apparently conducted "several months ago" and the team has already decided that a "F2P/GaaS approach" is not suitable.
"Palworld was never designed with that model in mind, and it would require too much work to adapt the game at this point. Additionally, we are very aware that this just isn't what our players want, and we always put our players first... We apologize for any concern this may have caused, and we hope this clarifies our position."
In saying this, the team is still currently considering "skins and DLC in future" as a way to support development. It plans to discuss this more with the community as it gets closer to this step, but for now, the "priority" is all about making Palworld the "best game possible".
Original article [Sat 14th Sep, 2024 11:00 BST]:
Palworld has been a tremendous success on Xbox Game Pass and platforms like PC, but it's now at a point in development where the creator Pocketpair must make a tough decision about the model of the title going forward.
Speaking to ASCII Japan, the company CEO Takuro Mizobe mentioned how the development team is still not sure about what it is to do going forward. It's either going to complete it with a regular purchase model or swap it over to a live-service model, which would turn the game into a free-to-play title.
While a live service model would come with benefits, there are also admittedly "many challenges" (thanks for the translation, Automaton):
"When you think about it from a business perspective, making (Palworld) a live-service game would extend its lifespan and make it more stable in terms of profitability. However, the game was not initially designed with that approach in mind, so there would be many challenges involved in taking it down the live-service path”
In the same interview, Mizobe acknowledged the fact it can take a long time to swap over a game to a live-service model, even if it's "good for business".
The team has also considered "monetizing the game by running ads", but the CEO believes the "most important thing" is to listen to players and the community.
So in short, it's still up in the air right now, but future developments of Palworld could take a different direction.