Palworld cheaters are playing the game Grand Theft Auto-style 

Palworld players have been reporting increasing incidents of cheating on the game’s official servers. One Japanese player’s video of an encounter with a cheater has gone viral, as users describe it as the “Palworld version of Team Rocket” and “GTA in Palworld.” 

PocketPair’s monster-taming survival game Palworld was released in Early Access on January 19, becoming a worldwide best-seller in a matter of days. The game’s record-breaking traffic was unfortunately accompanied by growing reports of the use of cheats and malicious exploits on Palworld’s official servers. Players have been faced with having their bases destroyed and having rare Pals stolen by cheaters. 

PocketPair was quick to address the issue, releasing the Update Patch v0.1.3.0 on January 25, which included “countermeasures against various cheats and exploits.” At the same time, the developers warned that this would not be a complete solution, stating, “it is currently difficult to completely prevent all cheating immediately.” They promised to keep working on strengthening Palworld’s security.  

Meanwhile, players are still at risk of encountering hostile cheaters. On January 28, a Japanese Palworld player shared an in-game video of their encounter with a cheater which has garnered significant attention in the community. The cheater had apparently slipped into their multiplayer server and essentially performed a one-man raid. The video shows a bunch of dead Pals on the ground, and a follow-up screenshot reveals rows of destroyed eggs.

Post translation: A cheater snuck into our multiplayer server in Palworld and decimated all our bases. Pals stolen. Damage on all sides. Forced the guild to disband. The despair of having your “Palmon” stolen one by one with white “Palballs” is something else. 

The cheater can be seen riding a Jetragon, a Legendary Celestial Pal, and firing attacks in all directions. Their appearance and behavior have prompted comparisons to Pokémon Hunter J, and many are calling what the player went through a “Team Rocket Event.”  

Pokémon comparisons aside, the video has also caused some concern about the extent of the cheating going on in Palworld. Palworld has gained popularity and traffic that far exceeds its comparatively humble scale of development, which might have caused the developers some difficulty in staying on top of things. Users are hoping for swift action from PockerPair to counter the cheating, especially considering the planned PvP mode. 

Palworld is available for the PC (Steam), Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.