Palworld Fans Pick Sekhmet as Top Pal in New Poll

Ever wonder which Pal truly rules the Palpagos Islands in players' hearts? Pocketpair just dropped the results of a global poll, and the winner might surprise you.

Sekhmet, the kitty-shaped Pal, clawed its way to the top with a whopping 49,637 votes. It's not even close—Solenne came in second with 37,425 votes, and Chillet rounded out the top three with 34,625. But spare a thought for poor Verdash, who landed at the bottom with just 1,479 votes. Despite that green bouffant that screams '90s emo, Verdash clearly isn't winning any popularity contests.

But that's not all Pocketpair had up its sleeve. Alongside the poll results, the devs teased a brand-new winter update called Palworld: Side by Side. And by 'teased,' we mean they dropped three human silhouettes and sent the fandom into overdrive. The prevailing Reddit theory? The mystery figures are Auri, Zoe, and Saya—the top picks in the character rankings. All three already exist in-game as faction leaders or tower bosses, and since Pocketpair made Zoe a recruitable companion after last year's poll, it's not a stretch to think Side by Side will let you team up with the trio.

Back in August, Pocketpair's head of publishing and communications, John “Bucky” Buckley, hinted at what's coming. In an interview with Gaming World Interviews at Gamescom, he said the next update would include something fans have been asking for—though he didn't confirm it was Side by Side. He also suggested the timing was chosen to dodge November, presumably to avoid GTA 6's release. “It's exciting for us at Pocketpair because we're doing something that people have wanted for a long time,” he said. “We kind of considered it for 1.0, but it would have just pushed the release back too far. And, you know, not to be cliché, everyone's saying it, but this year... something's happening later [in the year]... So we didn't want to go anywhere near the November kind of range.”

He added, “We're doing something that's really exciting, but it's not big... We're going to start the marketing on this soon. It's not a huge thing. You don't have to restart your game to experience it.” So whatever Side by Side brings, it won't force you to start over—good news for longtime players.

If you're planning a return trip to the Palpagos Islands, you might want to brush up on all the new Pals added in Palworld 1.0, check out our guide to all the Palworld bosses, and keep our interactive Palworld map handy. With a new update on the horizon, there's never been a better time to dive back in.

What do you think of Sekhmet taking the crown? And who are you hoping the silhouettes turn out to be? Let us know in the comments!