Palworld sold over 25 million copies in its first month on PC. Now Garena wants to bring that same creature-collecting, base-building chaos to your phone.
Garena has officially announced Palworld Online, a new mobile MMO built under a licensing agreement with Pocketpair, the Japanese studio behind the original Palworld. The game is targeting iOS and Android, with a launch window set for later this year.
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Not a port, an entirely new game
Here's the thing: this isn't Pocketpair porting Palworld to touchscreens. Garena is developing and publishing Palworld Online independently, and the scope is genuinely different from the source material. The studio is building a standalone experience with its own original story, a fully interconnected open world, cooperative PvE, PvP, base building, and controls redesigned from the ground up for touch screens.
Garena president Terry Zhao put it plainly: "Palworld is a widely recognised IP, and we see an opportunity to bring the essence of the PC title to mobile in a way that encourages players to connect and venture together. Working closely with Pocketpair, we are focused on preserving the depth, immersion, and freedom that define Palworld, while thoughtfully optimising the experience for mobile play."
Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe echoed the sentiment, pointing to Garena's track record in global publishing and live operations as the reason the partnership made sense: "We are pleased to work with Garena on the licensed development of Palworld Online and look forward to seeing a new Palworld experience brought to players worldwide."
Why Garena makes sense as the developer here
Garena isn't a random pick for this project. The studio is best known for Free Fire, one of the most downloaded mobile games globally, and has shipped other mobile titles including Black Clover M. That background in live service mobile games, localisation across multiple regions, and sustained player engagement is exactly what a game like Palworld Online needs to function as an MMO rather than a one-and-done download.
The key here is that Palworld's original appeal was always partly social. The survival loop works best with friends, and translating that into a proper mobile MMO structure gives the IP room to grow rather than just shrink to fit a smaller screen.
What the original Palworld actually achieved
For context on why this announcement carries weight: Palworld launched on Steam early access in January 2024 and hit 25 million copies sold within its first month, making it one of the fastest-growing multiplayer games in recent memory. The game reached version 1.0 on PC last month and has also released on Xbox and PS5.
The blend of creature-collecting, survival crafting, and base-building clearly resonated with a wide audience. Bringing that formula to mobile, where creature-collecting games like Pokemon GO have demonstrated massive long-term staying power, is a logical next step.
What to watch for next
Garena has confirmed the iOS and Android release window as later this year, but specific dates and regional availability haven't been announced yet. Given the studio's experience with global rollouts, a phased soft launch in select markets before a wider release is likely.
For players already tracking mobile games in early access or soft launch phases, the Mongil Star Dive best settings guide for PC and mobile is worth bookmarking as a reference for optimising cross-platform mobile performance when Palworld Online does arrive.
Another title worth keeping tabs on ahead of the mobile creature-collector surge is Aniimo, a creature-capture RPG from Pawprint Studio currently in closed beta. You can check out the Aniimo closed beta sign-up guide if you want early access before it opens wider.
For a broader look at what's coming to mobile and what's already playable, the full gaming guides hub has coverage across soft launch titles and new releases worth watching this year.
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