Palworld Dev Explains Why Xbox Version Is Missing Some Features

Highlights

• Palworld Xbox players are limited to playing co-op with a maximum of four players, unlike Steam players who can create a 32-player dedicated server.
• There are noticeable differences between the Xbox and Steam versions of Palworld, including character naming, faster crafting, and missing sound effects on Xbox, which is attributed to Microsoft’s certification process.
• Ultimately, the goal is to bring the two separate builds together, making cross-platform play possible.

Pocketpair’s monster-collecting adventure game Palworld has come out of the gate with guns blazing and experienced unforeseen success, but many people have noticed that the Xbox version is missing features that Steam players are enjoying. One of the most noticeable of these is the fact that Palworld Xbox players can’t create a 32-player dedicated server like Steam players can, limiting co-op on Microsoft’s platform to four players.

The difference in features isn’t the only thing that has some gamers riled up. Almost as soon as it released, players began pointing out that many of Palworld’s creatures look suspiciously similar to Pokemon, which has added fuel to an ongoing debate about the use of AI and plagiarism. Some people have stopped playing Palworld altogether, declaring that they will not support such blatant cloning of Game Freak’s IP. Others defend the game that’s been dubbed “Pokemon with guns,” saying that Palworld is a better representation, copied or not, of what adult gamers want from their monster-collecting experience.

Another element that gamers have taken issue with is the fact that there are some noticeable differences between the Xbox and Steam versions of the game. Palworld launched day one on Xbox Game Pass and is a limited-time console exclusive, but in addition to the aforementioned multiplayer limitations, Steam players can name their characters, rename their Pals, and even enjoy faster crafting. There are even some sound effects missing from the Xbox version of the game. All that, according to Palworld community manager Bucky, is due to speed bumps caused by Microsoft’s certification process.

As spotted by Windows Central, Bucky has been responding to player feedback and questions on the Palworld Discord server, shedding light on the reasons the two builds of the same game are different. When a fan asked about a hotfix for some issues, the CM replied that fixes had already been pushed out on Steam two days prior while, for Xbox, the patch was still “sitting in MS’s certification queue.” For this reason, it may be a while before the two versions of the game have feature parity. “We’re really at the mercy of certification here,” Bucky said, emphasizing that Pocketpair is trying to make things happen more quickly.

Some of these things will take extra time… We’re really at the mercy of the certification here. We’re desperately trying to speed this up.

The community manager also pointed out that there are currently two different versions of Palworld because there are indeed two distinct builds of the game: Xbox and Steam. Even if the version numbers were to match, that wouldn’t mean they are the same build. This doesn’t indicate that the Xbox build of Palworld is necessarily lagging behind the one available on Steam, Bucky clarified, and the console version not having a feature yet may simply be due to the platform’s specific architecture. In time, the goal is to bring the two versions to the exact same place, at which point cross-platform play will become possible.