Palworld Is Getting an Official MMO Before Pokémon Later This Year

The Palworld universe is expanding once again, but this time into the MMO space. Garena and Pocketpair have officially announced Palworld Online, a new mobile MMORPG scheduled to launch later this year on iOS and Android.

The project marks the franchise's biggest expansion since Palworld reached its 1.0 release last month, reimagining the survival crafting experience as a persistent online world built around large-scale multiplayer exploration, creature collecting, and cooperative gameplay.

And this is all happening long before Pokémon has any semblance of an official MMO project of its own on the horizon.

While Pokémon Champions remains on the horizon, Palworld Online will become the first official massively multiplayer creature-collecting experience from either franchise to launch later this year, bringing persistent online progression, guilds, and large-scale social features to Pocketpair's breakout IP. Other games like TemTem beat them both to the punch.

According to Garena, the new game preserves the "core pillars" that helped make the original game a global phenomenon. Players will explore an expansive open world, capture and train Pals, gather resources, build bases, and craft equipment while taking on both cooperative PvE content and competitive PvP encounters. The mobile adaptation also introduces an original narrative setting featuring exclusive story content and side quests created specifically for Palworld Online.

Rather than serving as a direct port, the game has been redesigned around mobile devices. Garena says the interface has been rebuilt with touch controls in mind, including optional one-tap management features intended to streamline base building and routine tasks without sacrificing the freedom and exploration that defined the original release.

The announcement follows a busy year for the franchise. In July, Palworld officially exited Early Access with its massive 1.0 update, adding a new story chapter, the floating Sunreach region, dozens of new Pals, expanded progression systems, multiplayer improvements, and extensive overhauls across graphics and base building. The update also brought the total Pal roster to nearly 300 creatures.

Garena has not yet announced a specific release date beyond a 2026 launch window, but players can now pre-register and follow development through the game's official channels. Other forthcoming games from Pocketpair include the Pal♡world! dating sim and Palworld: Palfarm farming sim.