How Did Aniimo Beat Palworld’s Player Count and Still Land Mixed Reviews?

Juego: Aniimo | Desarrollador/Editor: Pawprint Studio | Plataformas: PC (Steam, Epic Games Store), PS5, Xbox Series X|S, iOS, Android | Fecha de publicación: September 16, 2026 (PC and consoles), September 23, 2026 (mobile) | Precio: Juego gratuito

Aniimo launched on iOS and Android today, one week after a massive but divisive debut on PC and consoles. The free-to-play creature collector has pulled enormous player numbers since September 16. However, its Steam reviews remain stuck at Mixed, largely because of how the game makes money.

A Huge Launch by Any Measure

Pawprint Studio released Aniimo on September 16 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. It also joined Xbox Game Pass on day one, after gathering more than 30 million pre-registrations. Those numbers quickly turned into real players.

Según JPGames, Aniimo passed 127,000 concurrent Steam players within 24 hours, briefly beating Palworld’s daily peak. By September 21, Hitbox Magazine counted an all-time Steam peak of 167,956, citing Steam Charts. Even that figure understates the audience, since Epic, console, and Game Pass players sit outside it.

At its core, Aniimo sends you across the open world of Idyll to catch and evolve creatures. Its standout mechanic, Twining, lets you transform into a party member and use its elemental powers directly.

Why the Reviews Are Split

Monetization dominates the negative feedback. Aniimo ships without a traditional creature gacha, yet many players say the shop pushes them hard anyway. JPGames noted the game skips gacha elements but leans on its store almost excessively.

Specific complaints target monthly passes, energy limits, battle pass tiers, and a shop that shows up early. Players also criticize paid capture items that improve creature quality, calling them a soft pay-to-win layer. On top of that, some beta testers accuse Pawprint of holding back monetization details until launch.

Other problems have nothing to do with money. Reviewers report a slow gameplay loop and menus that a controller cannot fully reach. JPGames also hit several bugs, including one that blocked progress in the main story.

The Defense and the Recovery

Not everyone shares that criticism. Many positive Steam reviews say players can progress comfortably without spending anything. In their view, paid items mostly speed things up rather than gate content.

The score has also climbed steadily since launch. Automaton measured roughly 50 percent positive reviews on launch day, according to Hitbox Magazine. By September 21, that figure had risen to almost 70 percent across 12,223 reviews, though the rating stayed Mixed.

Mobile Raises the Stakes

The iOS and Android versions went live worldwide today with full cross-progression, and a Mac version will follow later. Players who use the same account on the same server keep their progress, resources, and teams across devices. Consequently, a much larger audience will now meet the same shop that split Steam players.

Conclusión

Aniimo proves there is a massive appetite for a free, open-world creature collector. Yet a Mixed rating at this scale shows that plenty of players remember the shop more than the world.

The climbing score suggests the game can still win people over, but only if Pawprint listens on monetization. Mobile is now the real test, because it opens the game to players without a PC or console.