Palworld's 1.0 announcement takes a backseat as PocketPair unveils retro-themed Palworld x Ultrakill collaboration

Just a week after Pocketpair announced that the developer would go quiet for the rest of the year to smooth out Palworld for its full 1.0 release in 2026, the studio has blindsided the gaming community with an unexpected (but welcome) crossover with violent retro FPS shooter Ultrakill.

The reveal was made via Palworld’s official X account on September 23, 2025, announcing that the studio would mix up Ultrakill’s hell-borne flair into its game, stating, “Gear and weapons from the cult-hit Ultrakill are coming to Palworld!” The artwork showcased Ultrakill’s protagonist V2 next to Anubis.

Ultrakill’s development began in 2018 as a solo endeavor by Arsi “Hakita” Patala and, similar to Palworld, has made monumental progress with major content updates in its Early Access. Ultrakill received a major overhaul update titled ULTRA_REVAMPED in February 2025, which enhanced the game’s visuals and code and added new Encore levels. 

The game launched in Early Access with four levels or layers in Act I. Later, Act II was released with three additional levels, and the final layer of Act II, “Violence,” was released in late July 2025. Currently, the final Act, “Godfist Suicide,” is in development, which will consist of two layers. The game’s development is reported to conclude sometime in late 2026.

This is the second indie collaboration for Palworld this year, as the studio collaborated with Terraria earlier in 2025, which introduced pixelated Pals and mining tools in its Tides of Terraria update, which racked up over 120,000 concurrent players on Steam.

This update contrasts with the announcement community director Bucky made on September 16, stating:

“Beyond just adding new content, there’s a lot of cleanup that needs to be done before Palworld can exit early access.

It’s no secret that Palworld has a lot of quirks and jank, and we want to take the time to properly address those before releasing the game. With that in mind, we plan to start this cleanup this year.”

Pocketpair had promised to deliver “a truly massive amount of content” for its 2026 release, but it’s surprising to see the studio embark on another collaboration despite ongoing technical development and the ongoing patent disputes with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company, which accused Palworld of infringing on capture mechanics patents filed post-launch.