Palworld is getting a giant expansion this December

Nintendo may be siccing its lawyers on Palworld, but that isn’t keeping Studio Pocketpair from continuing the momentum of its monster-filled survival game. The next big reveal: a brand new expansion. It’s called Feybreak and it’s scheduled to launch Dec. 23.

Pocketpair grabbed some precious time at the 2024 Game Awards, where Palworld was ultimately snubbed across the board in terms of nominations, to break the news.

Palworld exploded out the gates this past January, making Pocketpair so much money it wasn’t quite sure what to do with it all.  The game also exploded after hitting Xbox Game Pass, becoming the most played third-party title in the service’s history. While there was an inevitable cool down, Pocketpair continued to make strides in not only developing the game but turning it into a multimedia property through a Sony Entertainment partnership — a breakthrough deal that finally brought the game to PS5 in September. 

The tricky part: Nintendo eventually took action against the game, which was dubbed even in its pre-release forms as “Pokémon with guns.” A lawsuit issued by Nintendo against Pocketpair in September cited patent law in its case against infringement, specifically, as Pocketpair later revealed, in regard to Palworld’s Poké Ball-like capture mechanics. Pocketpair doesn’t seem to be taking any chances: earlier this month, the studio released a patch update that did away with the mechanic entirely. 

The new update promises to add new pals, weapons, fresh styles of architecture for town building, and a few new abilities that should make up for the lack of Faux-ké Balls. The biggest addition will be the new island, which developers said will be “about six times” the size of Sakurajima, the previous island added to the game, in a release. There, players will be able to catch pals and challenge a new faction leader in a boss fight. So if you’re into buff bipedal creatures like the anthropomorphized lion shown in the trailer, you won’t have to wait long to go and befriend it.