On the 14th at the Busan Exhibition & Convention Center (BEXCO), a long line formed in front of the G-Star 2025 KRAFTON booth from the morning. As the previously unrevealed "Palworld Mobile" was shown for the first time as a demo version, it drew concentrated interest from visitors. The fact that KRAFTON, which has relied on "Battlegrounds (PUBG)" for most of its revenue, reinterpreted the globally popular game "Palworld" for mobile drew people to the site.
Palworld Mobile, an open-world survival game, featured stable graphics, UI, and convenience functions, and it clearly offered casual fun. However, whether this game will meaningfully alleviate KRAFTON's structural challenge of single-IP risk and establish itself as a major anticipated title appears to depend on how much its completeness improves by the time the official version launches.
◇ A "healing-style game" strong in controls, movement, and UI convenience
The Palworld Mobile demo I played overall focused on "mobile optimization" and "enhanced convenience." From the character creation stage, the cute graphics and tactile feel of the controls stood out, and the early area's colors and cartoon-like texture evoked Japanese RPGs or a "Legend of Zelda" style. Thanks to an interface simplified for mobile, the control difficulty was relatively low.
In the early part of the game, the quest auto-move function actively guided players quickly to their destinations. The UI/UX was relatively intuitive, and key systems such as Pal capturing and resource gathering were also simplified for mobile, so the entry barrier was not high for first-time users.
In combat, convenience features such as auto-aim assist and capture mode were applied. The button layout and combat tempo were clean, but in some situations there were issues like getting stuck while moving or input delays, which was disappointing. In particular, there were segments where character movement during combat was not smooth, so it will be necessary to check for improvements in the upcoming alpha test.
However, a flow that heavily relies on auto-move could induce fatigue during long play sessions. While the system guides are presented quickly at each quest stage to maintain a steady tempo, it also felt like users were mechanically following the screen. There were no major inconveniences during the short demo, but how the game supplements repetitive content structures in the official service will likely be key.
◇ High barrier to entry for non-players of the original… early immersion remains a task
The game content itself is light and unremarkable, but it is uncertain how much differentiation it can offer in the domestic market compared with existing collection RPGs or survival/crafting open-world titles.
The most evident issue in the demo was that the world's purpose felt weak for users who have not experienced the original. The early tutorial did not sufficiently explain "why you should collect" or "how the story is structured," so how directly Pal collection or crafting translates into fun could vary greatly by individual.
Cute Pal designs, short combat loops, and a simple crafting system give the impression of a "light, healing-style" play experience. This may be positive for users who do not want a grand narrative, but it could feel less impactful to players seeking the goal-oriented fun typical of RPGs. It is also expected to face competition in the domestic mobile market, where alternatives in the healing/life-sim genre, such as "Mabinogi Mobile," already exist.
Palworld Mobile carries weight for KRAFTON beyond a mere new release. KRAFTON has long borne single-IP risk by relying on "PUBG" for most of its revenue. In particular, the self-developed new title "InZOI" drew huge attention right after launch, but there is precedent that within just two months its concurrent users plunged to about one-hundredth, failing to lead to long-term success.
In this situation, Palworld Mobile, which uses an external IP, is a fresh approach, but it remains difficult to judge whether it can reduce reliance on "PUBG" revenue in the short term. The original's global fandom is certainly a strong advantage, but success in the mobile market must pass multiple variables, including the rationality of the monetization structure, content repetitiveness, and a long-term update strategy. In particular, if the monetization is designed too aggressively around healing/collection-based play patterns, the likelihood of user backlash increases, drawing attention to what kind of revenue model KRAFTON will apply.
KRAFTON plans to run a closed alpha test for Palworld Mobile in Korea and Japan in Dec.