Cozy mini MMO Palia has just dropped the biggest news it’s had since Daybreak bought it out: It’s officially coming to console and launching the massive free-to-play Elderwood update on May 13th. You might have guessed it was coming if you follow EG7’s investor calls, but if not, just know that the game – which is already live on its own launcher, Steam, the Switch, and Epic – will also go live on PlayStation 5 and Xbox X|S, in conjunction with the Elderwood patch itself. The game will at that point have complete patch parity on all platforms with proper crossprogression and crossplay play to boot.
That said, when I spoke to Singularity 6 devs ahead of the announcement, they clarified that they’re still not calling this the 1.0 launch, so it’ll still technically be in beta. S6’s Maxwell Zierath likened Palia to Warframe, which infamously stayed in early access over a decade; the devs here seem uneasy about calling the game fully launched while there are still key types of content they want to add. However, the Elderwood launch is clearly being positioned as the ideal launch-esque time to jump in, given the big content blast and likelihood of a player surge. (The game has seen 6M players in the last two years; this launch will surely send that figure soaring.)
So let’s talk about what’s in that launch: Elderwood itself, which the devs have been teasing for ages now, is effectively the closest thing to an endgame zone Palia has ever had, and indeed, it’s the game’s first proper adventure zone. It should touch on nearly every facet of gameplay, with new content for every skill, new decor and furniture sets (one of which you can find by exploring the gameworld itself), new cosmetics and plushies, new critters, a new faction, and of course the new storyline and sidequests. It’s also got a new artifact/relic loop, which tasks players with hunting down artifacts and creating relics that can be used to create party-wide buffs – all part of the team’s effort to keep injecting social motivations into the game.
As for the Elderwood story, that will add a layer of magic and mysticism in the world as players are trying to figure out the origin of the “mysterious goop” infecting the new zone’s flora and fauna. The zone is a “dense, magical forest filled with surprise around every corner” and “new ways to explore and gather with friends.” The whole zone has been designed with exploration, scale, and verticality in mind, as players make use of gliding, tree-climbing, and jump pads to move around. Zierath referred to it as a “jungle-gym-like experience” for players.
Let’s touch on building too here for a sec: I think the devs sensed I am a big housing player because they showed off some insane player-made housing builds, including a “glitched” plot that used things like curtains to make giant flowers that made the whole map feel like Grounded – far beyond what I realized was possible in Palia. If you last played at launch as I did, you might also want to update your understanding that Palia has become much more of a building game that it was at launch.
Apparently, the devs are very focused on making sure builder players who do nothing but build (and that’s a sizable proportion of the playerbase) are just as served as adventurer playstyles; they’ve added over 800 new objects since launch as well as boosted performance to expand the housing object limit, and they’re hoping to expand on the popular home tours feature too. S6 would love to have something akin to The Sims 4’s Gallery at some point too – but no promises!
Likewise, Zierath stressed to me that “Palia was built with hygge in mind”: Coziness is at the forefront of everything in Palia, even the game’s combat and dungeons – and yes, it has them. But the dungeons are more like puzzle content, and the combat is basically hunting; you can’t really be damaged, let alone killed, by the myriad tricksy critters in Elderwood, but they can harass you a bit. In fact, while touring Elderwood for me, the devs chased down several critters and plinked some with a bow, but the worst that ever happens to the player when mobs “fight back” is what the studio calls “soft punishments” – like slower movement.
I did ask whether a freshly rolled character can get to Elderwood, and yes, technically, you can do that in safety, but you won’t be able to engage with much in the zone (like harvestables) until your tools are nearly top-tier. It’s probably also going to make a lot more sense to players who are caught up on the main questline, though of course, if story isn’t your jam, that may not matter to you.
So what does the future of the game look like after Elderwood? Well, the devs weren’t willing to go into too much detail, but they did say that a formal roadmap is coming after Elderwood launches. The first patch post-Elderwood sounds packed with new sidequests, new furniture, and a new dynamic event. And after that? The devs would only tease some “long, long-requested features” are coming in the “nearish term.” They’d also like to do more adventure zone content in the future, but obviously, that will depend on how well Elderwood is received.
I did ask the devs about Daybreak’s role in the game’s development specifically; readers will recall that Daybreak bought Singularity 6 last year and that Daybreak’s parent company, EG7, has been singing Palia’s praises to investors ever since. S6 says that Daybreak has actually been hands-off and helpful, with a demonstrated interest in supporting Palia’s and the studio long-term.
“If Daybreak hadn’t stepped in to save the studio, there probably wouldn’t be a studio,” S6’s Javi Carlos told me frankly, noting that the MMO company has given the Palia team plenty of leeway to just build out the game. “Daybreak made Elderwood possible.” So there you go: If you were down on the buyout before, it might just be time to revise your opinion of EG7 and Daybreak.
A few more random bits we touched on:
- I was curious how the loyalty club introduced earlier this year was working out. Apparently, something like 10% of coin purchases have migrated to the club system.
- The devs acknowledged that the game doesn’t have a full economy yet and trading is very limited to things like stickers, but you will be able to trade the new Elderwood artifacts, marking the start of making trading more central to the game.
- On average, Palia players play about two hours a day, several times per week.
- The devs would like to push more discovery rewards, just rewarding players for exploration; the new decor set you can find in Elderwood will mark the first time you’ll be able to find anything like that out in the explorable world.
- And speaking of the explorable world: S6 is also working on boosting findability by making sure players can more easily find new content on the map.
- Finally, the team discussed Elderwood’s hub: Apparently, the devs were hoping that specific areas in Palia would function as designated gathering spots, but it didn’t quite work out that way (players don’t always do what you expect them to!). Zierath told me S6 has learned a lot from the way players actually play Palia and is putting all of that knowledge to work in the Elderwood hub – and the rest of the game.
Elderwood – and the console launch – arrive at no cost to players of the F2P game on May 12th.
LOS ANGELES – April 15, 2025 – Something magical is brewing in Palia! Singularity 6 has announced that its fantasy life sim adventure, home to more than 6 million players to date, will arrive on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on May 13, 2025, with full cross-platform support available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and PC. The long awaited arrival on current-gen consoles will coincide with the release of a new expansion called Elderwood, adding vertical exploration and a spooky layer to Palia’s ever-evolving story. Players can wishlist Palia now on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. […] With Palia’s arrival on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, players will be introduced to the Elderwood, a dense and magical forested Adventure Zone filled with surprises around every corner. Elderwood offers players fresh ways to explore and gather with friends, bringing in familiar characters like Nai’o and Subira to guide players on their new quests. In Elderwood, players will search for new themed collectibles, hostile huntable creatures, such as the Ogapuu, and elusive ones, such as the Shmole. Additionally, players can look forward to unearthing Artifacts hidden deep in the Elderwood. Artifacts unlock a brand new equipment type called Relics, which will unlock your true potential by providing you and your party with unique buffs. Elderwood also introduces new artifacts, fish, insects, plushes, and decor to transform players’ homes in Palia.”
