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Palworld developer Pocketpair has released a new update for Steam and Xbox consoles. While the patches have fixed several issues as well as improved aspects, there is also the addition of censoring words and names that fans are not very happy about. Although not a dealbreaker, Palworld fans are attributing blame to Xbox for ruining the game with the new censored update.
You can now download the new 0.1.5.1 update on Xbox with patch notes available to see. This is different from the patch sharing the same identity that was released on February 27th. The patch released earlier this week fixed a massive farming exploit that had fans screaming ‘no’ in despair, and it also eliminated a popular bug that Pocketpair is sorry for fixing.
What was not mentioned in either 0.1.5.1 patch notes was the filtering of specific words and phrases. This has come to light thanks to complaints from the community, and fans have pointed the finger of blame at Xbox.
Palworld fans blame Xbox for censoring the game
Palworld fans are complaining about censorship added to the game in 0.1.5.1. We’ve reported about its recent introduction and some fans are miffed. It’s important to point out that it’s not game-breaking and it’s not a reason to curse Pocketpair no matter any level of frustration.
Judging by complaints on Reddit and the Pocketpair Discord, the biggest issue is that the censorship applies to single-player and private servers. This has ruined some player names with asterisks and, as we all know, it’s currently impossible to change a character name on an existing save. The only way to change your character name is to start completely anew.
Some examples of censored words shared by the community include ‘a**,’ ‘penis,’ and ‘b**ch’. There’s even a suggestion on Discord that ‘Warsect’ was censored cause it has the word ‘arse’. These are harmless examples, but there are instances where words definitely need to be filtered out. Fans don’t seem to have a problem with the idea of censorship for the general public, but they suggest it shouldn’t be forced on single-player or private servers, and that it should be toggleable.
Although there’s no proof, some fans have put the blame on Xbox. Reacting to the added censorship, one user said ‘I suspect this is about aligning the Steam and Xbox versions, as Microsoft has quite strict requirements on this sort of thing’. Another user said ‘It most definitely is because of Microsoft‘ while another user said ‘Xbox is really strict with certain rules‘ citing Dead By Daylight as an example.
On the Pocketpair Discord, another user cited Minecraft Realms where ‘you cannot turn off censoring words and just the most random phrases get censored’. Again, there’s no proof the censorship introduced to Palworld is because of Microsoft, but Microsoft has cracked down on swears before introducing content filters to stop swears and toxicity.
Replying to complaints about the censorship, Pocketpair’s community manager, Bucky_cm, has admitted that the ‘filter is too sensitive’ but there’s no ‘dark conspiracy’ behind the implementation. However, they also said filtered words are ‘sort of outside our jurisdiction’ and that Pocketpair will look into it implementing toggles but it is very difficult.
For more Palworld, check out our guide for how to get and use cheats and hacks. We also have a guide find how to find ore farm locations, and we have a tier list of the best pals in the game as well as the fastest mounts available.
Palworld is available on Steam, along with Xbox and PC through Game Pass.
