Palworld 1.0 explained: World Tree, Sky Islands and 72 new Pals
On 10 July 2026, after roughly two and a half years of early access, the moment finally arrived: Palworld 1.0. Not just another patch, but the biggest update the game has ever received — with a real ending to the story, a World Tree you can finally enter, floating islands above Palpagos and 72 new Pals. If you dropped off somewhere in 2024 or 2025, this is the point where coming back really pays off. In this article we run through exactly what 1.0 brings, what happens to your old save and why a fresh world with your group is often the best way to jump back in.
From early access to 1.0: what has changed
Palworld launched into early access in January 2024 and has grown patch by patch ever since. Version 1.0 completes the game: the main story finally gets a proper conclusion, and the two new areas — the World Tree region and the Sky Islands — make the playable world roughly twice as big as it was at the 2024 launch.
Important to know as a returning player: a lot of what you remember from 2024 or 2025 no longer applies. The story structure has been overhauled, mission progress from early access has been reset and the endgame looks completely different. Guides and videos from before July 2026 are best taken with a hefty pinch of salt — a classic trap for anyone returning after a long break.
The World Tree: from set dressing to endgame
The World Tree has been there from day one: that gigantic tree in the middle of the map, sealed behind a red barrier you could never get past. In 1.0 that barrier comes down, and the tree turns out to be Palworld's main endgame area — packed with high-level enemies, new resources and story missions that bring the main story to a real conclusion. After years of speculation on the forums, the answer is finally here.
Let's be honest: this is endgame content. If you're just coming back after a long break, you won't be standing here within an evening. The area is meant for characters growing towards the new level cap, and that's exactly what makes it such a good end goal to work towards with your group: everyone knows where the journey is heading.
Sky Islands: Sunreach, the archipelago above Palpagos
Since 1.0, Sunreach has been hovering above the familiar islands: an archipelago of floating islands held up in the sky by the power of Paldium. Every island has its own Pals, villages and resources, and everything is built around exploring by air. Without a decent flying Pal you simply won't get far, so your choice of mounts suddenly really matters here.
Where the World Tree is mainly a goal to work towards, the Sky Islands might just be the most fun reason to come back: they're a completely new kind of environment rather than more of the same. Building vertically, planning routes from island to island and catching Pals along the way that you'll never run into down below — it feels like a second game on top of the first.
72 new Pals, level cap 80 and new progression systems
With 1.0 the counter stands at 287 Pals, 72 of which are new — the biggest expansion of the Paldeck so far. Some of them only appear in the new areas, so if you want to complete your collection, a trip upwards is unavoidable.
On top of that, the level cap went up from 65 to 80, so even maxed-out characters have something to chase again. Also new are the Awakening and Mutation systems, both built around further strengthening Pals you already own. The details are best discovered in the game itself; the main thing to remember is that your favourite early access team is far from fully developed in 1.0.
Keep your old save or start fresh?
The good news: worlds from early access simply keep working in 1.0. But not everything carries over one-to-one. Here's how it breaks down:
| Item | What happens to it in 1.0 |
|---|---|
| Bases and buildings | Remain fully intact |
| Pals and breeding results | Carry over as normal |
| Mission and bounty progress | Reset for the new story structure |
| XP and levels | Recalculated for the new progression |
| Mods from before 1.0 | Outdated mod files can corrupt your save |
That last point deserves special attention: if you were running mods, remove them completely before opening your old world in 1.0. Leftover mod files from an older version are a known cause of corrupted saves, and that's not a risk you want to take with hundreds of hours of progress.
Developer Pocketpair itself recommends starting the new story with a fresh character, and there's a lot to be said for that. On an old save, some missions are automatically marked as completed or reopened, depending on where you left off. It works, but it feels messy compared to the new progression from level 1. A perfectly good middle ground: keep your old world as a building archive and Pal collection, and play the 1.0 story in a fresh world.
Playing on with your group
And that brings us to the scenario where 1.0 shines brightest: starting over together. Everyone at level 1, a map twice the size to explore, a story that now genuinely leads somewhere and a level cap of 80 as the dot on the horizon — there hasn't been a better moment in years to start a new world with your old Palworld group.
The practical question is where that world should run. If one person hosts via co-op, the world goes down the moment they log off — exactly what you don't want when one of you builds in the evenings and the other levels at the weekend. Your own server solves that: the world is online 24/7 and everyone plays whenever it suits them. At MC-Node you can rent a Palworld server from € 6,00 per month, cancellable monthly, on our own hardware with NVMe storage in the Previder data center in Hengelo. How the 1.0 update goes on a server like that and what's involved is covered in our article about Palworld 1.0 on your server — no need to repeat it here.