TL;DR

Singularity 6, the developer of Palia, has laid off 35 percent of its workforce after the game’s launch on Steam. The decision was not made lightly, to ensure long-term stability and deliver high-quality gameplay service. I do wonder if the monetization option they chose only for cosmetics could be not sustainable. It’s a tough time for those working as there have been layoffs the last few months.

Nicole Carpenter from the Polygon reported on this though numbers not confirmed. She also has an excellent article around the layoffs happening to game developers and how it affects their mental health the the crisis of the industry

Nicole from polygon

VC Money drying up and monetisation woes?

I am not sure what is going on at Singularity 6 only read X Teeets about some of the staff let go. It could mean that income for the game is not coming fast enough.

Palia wanted to change how MMOs are monetized by selling in game items and not subscriptions or battle passes, which sounded like a better option at that time. Now I am not sure if that business model can work still so maybe if revenue is not coming in quick the cost might be ballooning.

TL;DR (but we highly encourage the full read!)

Palia will be free-to-play

Palia will monetize cosmetic items

Palia will not monetize things you earn through gameplay

You won’t need to buy loot boxes or get content through a rotating store

This was on their blog regarding their business model.

Palia Blog post Business Model link :

https://palia.com/news/palia-business-model

not sure about this game future but hope it sticks around.