Cheaters Are Ruining Palworld, But There's Good News

"Palworld" continues to see the kind of immediate success that so many other early access titles from indie studios only dream about, but the experience is far from perfect. Some members of the game's playerbase feel as though they've exhausted the majority of the game's content and have decided to wait until the next big update before jumping back in. Others are just fed up with their fellow players in the "Palworld" community, thanks to their refusal to play nice. Unfortunately, as is the case with just about any game connected to the internet, unscrupulous players are cheating in Pocketpair's survival crafting game. 

Many of these cheaters have found ways to manipulate the game to their own ends, strengthening their bases and teams by duplicating items and precious resources without grinding for them like everyone else. Others have used hacks and other nefarious exploits to capture powerful bosses, clip through solid base walls, blow up structures, or otherwise juice their stats. Some players have even reportedly had their accounts suspended or their server settings changed by hackers. It's all beginning to add up to make "Palworld" an unenjoyable experience for a wide swath of players. To make matters worse, it seems that these outside manipulations have taken a toll on the game's dedicated servers. Thankfully, Pocketpair has a plan.

Pocketpair recently addressed these issues on X (formerly Twitter), telling fans via the official "Palworld" account that these kinds of shenanigans will not be tolerated. Though some of the game's smaller exploits have already been neatly patched out, some have become quite literally game-breaking: "Currently, some users are unable to connect to official servers due to cheating and the influence of fraudulent activities," says the official statement. "We have confirmed that some players are unable to play the game properly." This is particularly shocking, considering the amount of time and money that Pocketpair is currently spending to ensure that its servers are kept in tip-top shape.

According to Pocketpair, the developer's first order of business will be to launch "a player list function for servers," which will enable the "Palworld" team to better see which accounts are causing havoc for everyone else. Users who are caught cheating and detracting from the overall player experience will be suspended. There's no set date for this player list rollout just yet, but Pocketpair says to expect it sometime closer to the end of the month. The team will also be implementing a new anti-cheat system to root out repeat offenders. Details on the exact nature of this program remain scarce, but Pocketpair notably doesn't plan on punishing folks who are having fun on their own time. The statement adds, "In the case of community servers, single player, and co-op, the use of this [anti-cheat] function is optional."

Pocketpair has promised to continue developing other methods of identifying and punishing dishonest "Palworld" players in the coming weeks. Commenters have thanked Pocketpair for its transparency while dealing with the hacker problem, with some saying that this announcement couldn't have come a moment too soon.

Currently, some users are unable to connect to official servers due to cheating and the influence of fraudulent activities. We have confirmed that some players are unable to play the game… pic.twitter.com/iTLI4Jy6dH

— Palworld (@Palworld_EN) February 16, 2024

"Palworld" fans have sounded off on social media in recent days to list their grievances with the number of cheaters in the game. While some folks seem to revel in the chaos caused by these hackers, others have said outright that cheaters are ruining their "Palworld" experience outright. Along with a screenshot of their royally messed-up game, one Redditor remarked, "If you've only played single player and are thinking about joining the official multi-player servers.. don't waste your time. Hackers galore and you will 100% lose your base at some point." The top commenter in this thread replied, "hackers basically own the official servers at this point." Some Reddit users have said that the sheer number of hackers has convinced them to never play the game on a public server, while others have said that they don't plan to return to the game until Pocketpair rolls out some serious updates.

On the positive side, "Palworld" is still going strong, despite the issues with cheaters. The game continues to sell like hotcakes, with Pocketpair excitedly announcing on X this week that "Palworld" has sold over 25 million units within the first month of release. Pocketpair will no doubt want to keep these 25 million customers happy, and the next big step in that mission will be wiping hacks and cheats from the face of the Palpagos Islands.