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Windows Central
Windows Central
Technology
Jennifer Young

The latest 'Palworld' update breaks the game — and everyone is blaming Nintendo

Dead Hoocrates in Palworld.

What you need to know

  • Palworld just dropped version 0.3.11 which changes the behavior of player-owned pals and UI changes to the reticle.
  • The update has caused some game-breaking bugs with Pals and players are unhappy, trying to roll back their game.
  • Many are blaming the ongoing Nintendo patent infringement case for this hasty update.

Palworld's latest update is proving to be a controversial one,. Version 0.3.11 just rolled out for Xbox and PC, and has caused Pal-breaking issues that has inadvertently disrupted gameplay and left the community frustrated and scrambling to roll back their games to a previous version. Reddit and Discord are awash with threads on how to "downgrade your game."

As a result of this update, many are pointing fingers at Nintendo, blaming the legal battles for this latest move as it's all to do with how the Pals are deployed in the field.

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What is Palworld version 0.3.11 and why are people mad?

(Image credit: Tasty-Turnip-2835 on Reddit)

The patch notes for 0.3.11 are simple:

▼Player ・Changed the behaviour of summoning player-owned Pals so that they are always summoned near the player

▼UI ・The reticle will now only be displayed when aiming

Two little lines that have made a huge difference to how the game plays. Right now you can no longer throw a pal to a position of your choosing in your game, they spawn right next to you which is causing a bunch of issues with terrain.

The update today.. from r/Palworld

In fact I was able to recreate the issue myself on my first attempt, logging into the game after the update I hit LB to summon my trusty Chillet — who unfortunately found himself stuck in a rock.

I was able to replicate the bug on my first try when going into the new update. (Image credit: Jennifer Young - Windows Central)

The update announcement alone has been met with a swarm of choice emojis over on Discord, and it's clear players are unhappy with the change. Some even posting tutorials on how to roll the update back.

The update announcement got mixed responses on Discord (Image credit: Discord)

Why have Palworld implemented this change?

Not being able to 'throw' your pals into battle is a huge downgrade, though as many have already deduced, it's probably only a temporary measure placed until Pocketpair come up with a more elegant solution. As many are already aware, Pocketpair are being sued by Nintendo for patent infringement and have already lamented at the fact they will need to "allocate significant time to matters unrelated to game development due to this lawsuit."

ould this update be a direct safeguard against the patents Palworld is being accused of infringing? For example patent no.7493117 refers specifically to how players engage in launching one creature at another, and thanks to this unpopular update, we are no longer aiming and launching our Pals. Many players seem to agree this is the cause with many threads in support of Palworld imploring the community to not raise their flaming torches against Pocketpair over what is a temporary fix. "They want to bully Palworld out of business and this is just one of those steps, but don't let it happen keep supporting this game and I am sure we will get a reworked system in time."

How to roll back the Palworld update

If like some others, you aren't happy with patch 0.3.11 and want to roll back to happier times when you could throw your Pals with abandon, then there is already a solution at least for Steam players.

  1. Press Win + R on your keyboard.
  2. Copy and paste this into the Run box and press Enter
    steam://open/console
  3. In the Steam console, paste the following command and press Enter:
    download_depot 1623730 1623731 8851472711009350092
  4. The download might take some time as it’s downloading the entire game again.
  5. Once the download is complete, locate the folder (usually): Steam Folder > steamapps > content > app_1623730 > depot_1623731
  6. Drag and drop the downloaded files into your game folder.
  7. Go to your game’s properties in Steam and disable automatic updates to avoid it updating again.
  8. Play the game with the previous version and enjoy!

Some good news for Palworld, an upcoming collaboration and huge new map

Palworld X Terraria arrives in 2025 (Image credit: Pocketpair)

Nintendo woes aside, it's not all doom and gloom in the Palworld sphere, as it's recently made not one but two huge new announcements for the future of the game. Firstly, this month we're getting the "largest, harshest and most mysterious new island" in Palworld, which developers have said will be six times the size of Sakurajima. The update will bring new species of Pals and new tower bosses.

In addition to this, 2025 brings even more exciting updates, with a teased Terraria collaboration on the horizon. We don't know anything more on this other than the issued teaser artwork, but it's clear the developers are pressing on with some huge updates for the community.

If you want to check out Palworld yourself, theres also 25% off right now on Steam.

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