Palworld Dev Pocketpair Gives Employees Monster Hunter Wilds Launch Day Off After Receiving ‘Mysterious’ Notes From Staff Who Said They’d Probably Be Too Unwell to Work

Pocketpair, the developer behind Palworld, gave its staff a company-wide holiday to celebrate the release of Monster Hunter Rise. According to Automaton, the studio received numerous "mysterious" employee notices citing potential illness on February 28th, the game's official launch date. This playful approach to a company-wide day off highlights the game's impact, while Pocketpair reassured fans that game updates would remain unaffected.

Monster Hunter Rise Weapons Tier List

Monster Hunter Rise Weapons Tier List

Monster Hunter Rise enjoyed a phenomenal launch, boasting 1 million concurrent Steam players, securing a place in Steam's top 10 most-played games, surpassing titles like Baldur's Gate 3, Hogwarts Legacy, and Elden Ring. Despite this success, the game received a "mixed" user review rating on Steam, prompting Capcom to release official PC performance guidance and announce details for Title Update 1, which will introduce an endgame social hub.

The game's impact is global, particularly notable in Japan. Automaton reported on a Japanese indie developer jokingly lamenting a lack of Steam sales since Monster Hunter Rise's release. This isn't Pocketpair's first "game day"—they similarly granted staff time off for Elden Ring's 2022 release.

To enhance your Monster Hunter Rise experience, explore our resources: uncovered secrets, a guide to all 14 weapon types, a detailed walkthrough, a multiplayer guide, and instructions for transferring beta characters.

IGN awarded Monster Hunter Rise an 8/10, praising its improvements while noting a lack of significant challenge: "Monster Hunter Rise continues to smooth off the rougher corners of the series in smart ways, making for some extremely fun fights but also lacking any real challenge."