This survival adventure from a relatively small Japanese studio sold 5m copies within three days of its release. What in the name of Pikachu is going on?

The new year has barely begun but it seems we already have 2024’s biggest game – and it’s not a multi-million dollar sci-fi extravaganza set in a vast universe created by a gigantic publisher. It’s a survival adventure released by a small company in Japan, which had only previously released one game. It’s called Palworld, and it’s being accurately described as “Pokémon with guns”. And if that sounds horrible to you, it seems you are very much alone. Within three days of its release on 18 January, it had sold 5m copies. What in the name of Pikachu is going on?