Palworld 1.0 won’t wipe your data, ‘but you should’ says Pocketpair’s publishing boss

As announced at this year’s Summer Games Fest, Palworld 1.0 arrives in less than a month. The launch version looks like it’ll introduce a lot of new stuff to Pocketpair’s Pokémon-inspired survival-crafting game, and with all those additions comes a question: will Palworld 1.0 require players to start again from scratch, or will you be able to carry on your adventure as normal?

Fortunately, Pocketpair’s head of publishing and communications John Buckley has the answer: “You do NOT need to wipe your data for Palworld 1.0”, Buckley announced on Palworld’s Discord. “But you should.”

Buckley explained his reasoning. “Players can continue their existing saves if they wish, as we want to respect the time and effort you have put in. However, due to the large number of changes to the game, including overhauls to mechanics and new content, we believe that starting a new character will give you the best experience of Palworld!”

Pocketpair hasn’t yet specified what changes will be coming to Palworld with its 1.0 update. Thus far we just have the broad strokes. The Steam page for the announcement points to certain things depicted in its cinematic trailer, such as “new Pals, new areas, an ominous new threat, and the long-awaited World Tree”.

That latter feature is perhaps the most significant. The World Tree, which looms over the northwest corner of the map, has long been tied to its ending scenario, and players have long wondered what exactly will go down once players arrive at Palworld’s biggest landmark. Whatever happens, Pocketpair has already stressed that while players’ arrival at the World Tree will be a conclusion of sorts, it doesn’t necessarily represent the end of Palworld as a going concern.

A few other details have emerged since the announcement. Over on X, Buckley was asked how many new Pals would be added to the update, to which he responded “More than we’ve ever added before in any one update”. One of those Pals, the jester-like critter Dupin, was also shown off by Buckley in a separate post.

Palworld’s 1.0 update arrives on July 10. No doubt further specifics will emerge over the next few weeks.