Highlights

  • Palworld and Helldivers 2 defy industry norms, highlighting the importance of platform exclusivity and player priorities.
  • Both games have seen immense success, with Palworld's Steam player count peaking at 2.1 million and Helldivers 2 surprising fans after a long hiatus.
  • The affordable price points set by Palworld and Helldivers 2 have resonated well with players in a market of $70 AAA titles.

The video game industry has been enamored with some surprising titles recently, with the launches of Palworld and Helldivers 2 drawing huge amounts of attention. At face value, both of these titles seem worlds apart from each other, with one focusing on relaxed exploration and taming cute fictional creatures and the other seeing players engage in a brutal Galactic War against hordes of aliens and robots.

Despite this, the surprising success stories that Palworld and Helldivers 2 have written are very similar, both starting conversations around platform exclusivity and getting back to the roots of what players truly want. With both games breaking records and surpassing the expectations that many had placed on them, Palworld and Helldivers 2 share a deep connection that has been forged through different avenues.

Ever Original Helldivers 1 content feature Missing From Helldivers 2 at launch
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Every Feature Helldivers 2 Is Missing From the Original Game at Launch

Helldivers 2 has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to adding every feature from the original Helldivers that is seemingly missing so far.

Palworld and Helldivers 2 Go Against the Grain of Industry Norms

palworld helldivers 2

Palworld's release on January 19 marked the start of a phenomenon across the industry, with the game quickly amassing huge player counts in its opening days. Astonishingly, Palworld reached a Steam concurrent player count of 2.1 million in its opening week, with this being the second-highest player peak in Steam's history.

This massive level of success was made all the more surprising by the lack of former industry experience for Pocketpair, the company behind Palworld. Pocketpair indeed found some success with the release of 2020's Craftopia, which itself has a Steam player peak of 26,000, but none of the company's prior ventures suggested that Palworld would have such a dominant industry presence.

Helldivers 2 is in a similar position due to the fact that its predecessor released in 2015, with the franchise fading into relative obscurity before the release of its latest game on February 8. Arrowhead Studios had not released any other games after the first Helldivers, making the huge player count of Helldivers 2 just as impressive as Palworld's.

Palworld and Helldivers 2 Both Make Cases For Greater Platform Availability

Interestingly, Palworld is only available on Xbox and PC. This same issue has cropped up with Helldivers 2, as the game has skipped Xbox for PlayStation and PC, meaning both major consoles have missed out on extremely popular titles over the past few months. Helldivers 2 in particular has started a wide-spanning dialogue around console exclusivity, with fans wanting as many players as possible to join the Galactic fight, forming a rare bridge between the playerbases of Xbox and PlayStation.

As things stand, neither Palworld nor Helldivers 2 is expected to expand its console availability.

Another important element of Palworld and Helldivers 2's success stems from their respective price tags, with the former being available for $29.99 and the latter for $34.99. With the majority of AAA releases now costing $70 at their standard editions across the gaming industry, the comparatively cheaper price points of Palworld and Helldivers 2 have been a breath of fresh air. The bold steps that both titles have taken to move away from the norms of the industry have clearly paid off, with Palworld and Helldivers 2 simultaneously rising to the top of the industry through their affordability, rich content, and platform availabilities.