Game sensation Palworld is eclipsing the entire Pokémon series in Twitch viewer counts by more than 1000%, according to new analysis.
GamingGadgets.de analysed more than 50 Pokémon games currently streamed on Twitch to determine how many hours each game was being watched weekly and yearly. They then compared the results to the same periods for Palworld.
The data showed that Palworld accumulated over 27.8 million watch hours in the past week, significantly more than the combined 2.07 million watch hours of the entire Pokémon series in the same period; this means that Palworld received around 1243.54% more view hours than Pokémon.
Palworld has been a sensation since it emerged in January. Published by Japanese developer Pocket Pair, players move through an open world trying to capture small monsters called ‘pals’, which they can then equip with weapons and use to battle opponents with. It sold eight million units in its first six days of access and is already the second-highest played game of all time on Steam.
However, it has caused controversy as some have pointed out certain similarities to Pokemon – it has even been nicknamed ‘Pokemon with guns’.
Comparing the most popular Pokémon game (Scarlet/Violet) over a yearly period to Palworld’s recent seven-day performance still shows Palworld in the lead. Palworld’s week-long viewership stood at around 49.9 million hours, whereas Pokémon Scarlet/Violet’s year-long viewership was nearly 41 million.
Not only does Palword dominate viewer numbers, but it also dramatically outnumbers Pokémon’s broadcaster numbers, with Palworld being broadcast by 169,343 channels over seven days, vastly outnumbering Pokémon’s 16,544 broadcasts.
“The surge in Palworld’s popularity might reflect the Pokémon community’s eagerness to explore familiar characters in varied formats,” said Nico Arnold from GamingGadgets.de. “Fans seem excited to see their favourite Pokémon-inspired elements in different gaming genres.
“Palworld’s success suggests an evolving landscape where elements from iconic series like Pokémon are reimagined, potentially leading to a wider array of Pokémon-inspired games, such as strategy or racing, in the future.”
