Ark: Survival Evolved

VS

Palworld

Ark: Survival Evolved is a popular survival sandbox game released in 2017 and available on nearly all platforms. Its peak was several years ago, but it maintains a stable community thanks to official and community servers, modding, and occasional event content. While numbers have declined since launch, the game still sees tens of thousands of daily players across PC and consoles, especially due to its ongoing updates and active mod scene. However, it is not an MMO as it does not feature a single, large-scale persistent world—servers are capped and players are sharded.

Palworld is a survival/adventure sandbox game released in January 2024 by Pocketpair. It experienced an explosive launch with millions of sales and high concurrent player counts on PC. Since launch, player counts have declined from their peak but remain strong for a new multiplayer survival game, thanks to active updates and ongoing community engagement. It's not an MMO, as servers are typically limited to smaller group sizes and don't feature a true persistent, massively multiplayer world.