When early access began, Palworld was estimated to be 60% complete.
That estimate describes the game’s state at its Early Access launch on January 19, 2024, not a promise that exactly 60% of every planned feature already existed. Pocketpair released the game on Steam and Xbox Game Preview while continuing development based on player feedback.
Palworld’s early-access status mattered because its mix of creature collecting, survival crafting, base building, exploration, and multiplayer was unusually ambitious for Pocketpair. The studio had already decided to move from Unity to Unreal Engine 4 because it considered Unreal better suited to a larger open-world project.
A common mix-up is treating 60% as a completion rating measured by gameplay hours or map size. It was a development estimate, and the unfinished portion included future content, refinements, balancing, bug fixes, and additional systems. Early Access therefore meant the playable launch version was substantial but still evolving.