Palworld's community manager recently commented on the state of the video game industry, specifically the rise of so-called "dead games." He said that it's perfectly normal for a game to lose players over time, and that it's not healthy to play just one game at a time.
Palworld developer says playing the same game all the time is 'not healthy' for players or the industry
Palworld has been called a dead game by some because it has seen a fraction of the activity it did at launch, when it broke records with its two million concurrent players. Community manager John Buckley said in a July 27 Going Indie video that Palworld was not intended to be a perpetual title, and that no game should aspire to be one, as that would incentivize big publishers to bring more live service titles to the industry. "It's just not healthy for our industry because the more we push that kind of narrative, the more big companies are just going to say 'gamers want more live service,'" he said.
Buckley went on to call these money-sapping live service titles “soulless,” saying most of them will die out within nine to 12 months due to lack of interest. “In that case, we all lose,” he said.
He also added that it's not healthy for players to continuously invest their time in one title, which encourages them to further explore the world of video games and play as many games as possible, especially indies. The Palworld developer even said that you should play the "dead games" that people talk about, and as long as you're having fun, it doesn't matter if "only five people are playing."
