Developer Pocketpair has officially announced Palworld! More Than Just Pals, a dating simulation game set within its hugely popular monster-collecting universe. And no, this is not an April Fools' Day prank—at least, not this time.
On March 31, the team behind the 2024 survival title inspired by Pokémon revealed plans to introduce romance into its lineup. On any other day, fans would likely accept the news without hesitation. But with April Fools' Day antics, fake game announcements, and other strange reveals expected to flood the internet as the new month begins, many devoted followers are approaching Palworld! More Than Just Pals with a healthy dose of skepticism.
For the doubters, Pocketpair wants to make one thing perfectly clear: Palworld! More Than Just Pals is a genuine video game in development. The concept appears to have originated from the studio's 2024 April Fools' joke, where the team initially presented More Than Just Pals as a fake game for a quick laugh. This time, however, it's real and is scheduled to launch on PC via Steam at a yet-to-be-revealed date.
Palworld! More Than Just Pals seems to be a particularly quirky expansion of Pocketpair's beloved universe. The game's description hints at an experience where players can form bonds—and even fall in love—with a cast of student Pals attending Palagos Private Academy. According to its official Steam page, players will meet characters like the "cute and mysterious" Katress and the "timid" Chillet—many of their names pulled straight from the Palworld creature catalog.
"You, the main character, enroll as a transfer student at the prestigious Palagos Private Academy," reads Pocketpair's official description. "There, you'll meet a host of unique friends—your Pals—and dive into school life filled with friendship, romance, and life-altering choices. Whether you choose to remain friends with your Pals, pursue romantic relationships, or even dismember and consume them is entirely up to you."
This doesn't concern April Fools :)
— Bucky | Palworld (@Bucky_cm) March 31, 2025
Pocketpair celebrated Palworld's one-year anniversary this past January, with ongoing updates continuing to shape the game. A steady flow of new content should help tide fans over while they wait for the dating sim spinoff. The most recent update introduced crossplay support, Blueprint upgrades, a photo mode, and more. As for a potential Nintendo Switch 2 version of Palworld, there's still a glimmer of hope. Even if a Switch port doesn’t come to fruition, we can still hold out hope that Palworld! More Than Just Pals will eventually find its way to the console.
