Why Palworld on Xbox Game Pass Is Different From the Steam Version

If you’ve noticed some differences between the Xbox and Steam versions of Palworld, you’re not alone. Fortunately, developer Pocketpair has offered an explanation of why that’s the case.

As spotted by Windows Central, Pocketpair’s community manager, Bucky, was able to provide some clarity on the aforementioned quandary over on the official Pocketpair Discord server. The Xbox and PC versions are different because the developer is still waiting on Microsoft to sign off on the latest update. “On Steam, applied 2 days ago. On Xbox, sitting in the MS certification queue,” Bucky wrote. When asked about certain hotfixes and when fans can expect the updates to hit Xbox, the community manager continued, “Some of these things will take extra time…we’re really at the mercy of the certification here. We’re desperately trying to speed this up.”

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“Issues like the missing exit game button etc are not a result of an ‘older build’, these are separate issues. In fact, Steam and Xbox will likely never have identical version numbers until the games are brought to be cross play compatible because at that point they will be the same game internally,” Bucky further explained. “Again, that doesn’t mean Xbox is necessarily ‘behind’ or anything, they are just just fundamentally two different versions of the game because of the architecture on Xbox is different.”

At the time of writing, there aren’t too many differences between the Xbox and Steam versions of Palworld, but those that are present are pretty glaring. As we covered recently, the biggest variation is that the Xbox and PC Game Pass versions only offer four-player lobbies, while the PC port supports 32-player lobbies. Other small changes on Xbox include slower crafting times and the ability to name your character, among others.

It’s currently unknown when the Microsoft certification will come through for the Xbox version of Palworld.