Shockbyte Interview: Palworld’s Launch Was 25x Larger Than Minecraft For The Company

"At one point, Shockbyte was selling a brand new Palworld server every 4 seconds."

Story Highlights

  • Shockbyte is one of the leading server-hosting platforms for games like Minecraft and Palworld.
  • It recently launched the Shockbyte Control Panel, which promises faster and more efficient hosting.
  • We interviewed James Zinn, Head of Partnerships at Shockbyte, over an email Q&A session.

The best way to experience many online multiplayer games is with other people, but that experience can quickly become aggravating if you, as the server host, don’t have a setup that keeps up with the game’s requirements. Hosting an online game server requires a powerful system, and services like Shockbyte carry off that weight by offering powerful servers to individuals for a small payment.

The rising trend of online multiplayer games, mostly thanks to Palworld, has kept a lot of server-hosting platforms in business, encouraging them to continue improving their services to stay relevant. And that’s exactly what Shockbyte did by launching the Control Panel, offering more features and better user control.

As such, we spoke with James Zinn, Head of Partnerships at Shockbyte, to learn more about the Control Panel and how much in demand some of the recent titles have been in the server-hosting market.

ShockByte
Shockbyte Is A Popular Server Host For Minecraft, Palworld, And Other Popular Games – Image Credits: Shockbyte.

Could you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about Shockbyte and the brand-new Control Panel?

James: Hey there, I’m James Zinn, the Head of Partnerships here at Shockbyte! I’ve been playing Minecraft since I was a teenager, and I love many other modern games, such as RuneScape and CS2! Shockbyte is a multiplayer game server hosting company full of enthusiastic gamers and content creators who are all looking for the best way to make their multiplayer experience even better.

We built our new Shockbyte Control Panel to make game server hosting easier, faster, and more streamlined than ever before. Built on over a decade of feedback we’ve received, we are also all gamers at heart, so we understand the struggles our users have experienced. We’ve streamlined the most tedious parts of multiplayer server hosting into a single, all-in-one, easy-access control panel that empowers even the least technical hosts to dive in headfirst.


What has the feedback been like since the beta release? Are there any specific areas you are currently trying to improve?

James: Since the beta release of April 2nd, the feedback has been incredibly encouraging. While it’s still early days, we’ve received an overwhelming wave of positive responses from our community. Users have been quick to applaud the significant departure from our previous panel, particularly praising the new appearance, enhanced features, and heightened accessibility.

As we continue to gather insights and data, our focus remains squarely on refining and perfecting the Shockbyte Control Panel. While we’re thrilled with the initial reception, we’re also keenly aware that there’s always room for improvement. That’s why we’re diligently listening to our users, analyzing their feedback, and pinpointing any areas that could benefit from further enhancement.


In what ways does the Shockbyte Control Panel improve the service? And is it the next step in the future of better server hosting?

James: We expected that this product release would be the start of something monumental in our industry, and we have seen a response from users and beta testers that encourages us to continue to think so. The industry suffers from dated systems and complicated customer experiences when things should be just as easy as playing the games themselves.

We’ve taken every step to lower the barrier to entry for new hosts while still giving our most veteran hosts the ability to perform all the actions they need. Not only that, but Shockbyte has enhanced every backend capacity we are able to: minimizing loading times, optimizing server performance, and displaying metrics as cleanly as we can to our users.


How long will it take before the Control Panel reaches its desired state?

James: As of right now, Shockbyte plans to release our full Shockbyte Control Panel in 2-3 months.

Minecraft
Minecraft is the World’s Best-Selling Game Franchise of All Time – Image Credits: Mojang Studios.

While Shockbyte is widely known for its Minecraft servers, it also offers servers for recent releases like Palworld and Enshrouded. Could you tell us how many people have used the service for these two games?

James: Shockbyte’s most widely used server has been Minecraft for well over 11+ years until the release of Palworld, which blew the hinges off our server stock. Players were flooding our pages, allowing us to deliver well over 2,000 Palworld servers every single day for the first week of launch. At one point, Shockbyte was selling a brand new Palworld server every 4 seconds.

Palworld’s launch was nearly 25x larger than any other game title we have worked on, and it became 25% of our entire business. Enshrouded also features a sprawling community that we support eagerly, but the player base of 2 million players is much smaller than Palworld’s 16+ million.


Palworld has created a massive impact, and considering how it will have tons of more content. Do you think it could become a timeless game like Minecraft?

James: Depending on the direction it takes, the Pocket Pair team has a lot of room to create something that will continually bring back their community to the game. With live-ops support and continual updates, players will be looking forward to future content, and multiplayer server support owned by players is the key to the game’s longevity.

At Shockbyte, we’ve been pushing a mantra for indie developers that we call “POGS” or “Player Owned Game Servers.” Games that allow players the freedom to own their own servers, their own communities, and sometimes their own user-generated content are ones that can thrive much longer than originally expected.


Do you believe that services like Shockbyte, which allow players to enjoy the game with more people and try new things, play a role in the longevity of a game? If so, could you explain a bit in detail?

James: This is exactly the concept of “POGS”. Player-owned game servers allow players to have a stake in their community by literally owning a digital landscape in which the players can exist. Palworld could not have survived server-hosting costs on launch if they did not choose this style of multiplayer connection, and players would not have been so invested in their own multiplayer if they did not have the opportunity to choose their own hosting options, their own server properties, and many other factors.

Communities can be formed around these online game servers, which began quickly during the launch of Palworld. This creates an ecosystem of players who are invested in not only the community but also the title. This is by far the most important factor in determining the longevity of a game.

Palworld
Palworld Rolled Over a Massive 8 Million Copies Within a Week of Release – Image Credits: Pocket Pair.

With how volatile the gaming industry has become in recent years, is there a trend or anything in particular that you believe could threaten server hosting services?

James: Current Industry standards. Developers often choose to develop multiplayer games using the industry standards, and that may drown them in server infrastructure costs or debt, or they may be put off exploring multiplayer options. We have a job to do to educate more developers that the standard way is not the only way.

When we introduce new developers and even AAA development studios to the option of POGS, also known as “Player-Owned Game Servers,” they are astounded at the idea that there are zero server hosting overheads, and players desire the opportunity to optimize their own servers. When more developers choose to use this server hosting route, we will see an improvement in multiplayer gaming quality, and we simply need to educate developers on these options.


What is your strategy for dealing with consumer feedback and the bad experiences some people might have had?

James: Over 15 years of Shockbyte, we have received a wide variety of feedback, all of which we have collected and used to craft a better experience. With this feedback, we took the direction and rebuilt our support team to fulfill our customers’ needs, allowing us to provide 24/7 support, which we continue to optimize even to this day.

Whenever a user has had a bad experience with us, we take it very personally, as each customer is a gamer looking to create something magical online. This is very relatable for the Shockbyte team and we help fulfill the goal this customer was attempting to accomplish, along with always providing them due recompense so they can still enjoy their experience to the fullest.


Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers? Something we haven't touched upon yet.

James: Shockbyte is beyond excited to release the Shockbyte Control Panel in the next few months and looks to add additional, previously unannounced features as time goes on. Stay tuned on our Shockbyte Panel web page!


YouTube video

Shockbyte is a video game server hosting provider that was founded in 2013. The company recently released the Shockbyte Control Panel in the beta phase to further improve its services for users. We appreciate James Zinn for taking part in the interview and Chris Glover for helping us.

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Mudassir is a seasoned journalist with a passion for uncovering the stories behind our favorite virtual worlds. Armed with a trusty notepad and a keen curiosity, he dives headfirst into the gaming industry's most exciting personalities. His knack for insightful questions and his ability to connect with developers and gamers alike makes his interviews a must-read. While on the lookout for the next person to interview, Mudassir keeps himself busy by writing news surrounding the gaming universe. Experience: 4+ Years || Senior Journalist || Education: Bachelor's in Psychology.

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