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 studio behind Palworld, granted its employees a company-wide holiday to celebrate the release of Monster Hunter Rise.

Automaton reported that Pocketpair's social media revealed a wave of "mysterious" absence notices from staff citing potential illness on February 28th, the game's launch day. This unscheduled break, coinciding with the release, is a generous gesture from the company. Pocketpair assured 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 over 1 million concurrent Steam players. This achievement propelled it into Steam's top 10 most-played games of all time, surpassing titles like Baldur's Gate 3, Hogwarts Legacy, and Elden Ring.

Despite its popularity, Monster Hunter Rise received a "mixed" Steam user review score, prompting Capcom to release PC performance optimization guidance. Furthermore, Capcom unveiled early details for Title Update 1, which will introduce an endgame social hub.

The game's impact is global, but particularly strong in Japan. Automaton highlighted a Japanese indie developer who humorously lamented zero Steam sales since Monster Hunter Rise's release.

This isn't Pocketpair's first employee gaming holiday; a similar event occurred in 2022 for Elden Ring's launch.

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

IGN awarded Monster Hunter Rise an 8/10, stating: "Monster Hunter Rise further refines the series' gameplay, resulting in incredibly fun battles, albeit lacking significant challenge."