Palworld TCG Sells Out From Scalpers, Developers Apologize

News Palworld

Written by Tyler Chancey

Published: August 14, 2026 3:39 PM

The developers of the Palworld TCG are apologizing to players and fans for having such low stock. Bushiroad is struggling to keep the card game spin-off of the indie hit monster survival game in stock due to one of the biggest hurdles for all major card game releases: scalpers.

The Palworld TCG Stock Shortages

According to a report by Automaton, the Palworld TCG and its first booster pack, "Dawn of Palpagos," were released on July 30. Thanks to pre-order sales, the game sold over 3.5 million booster packs worldwide on that day. That is a lot higher demand than what any retailer was expecting, even for a card game spin-off of Palworld, a game once marketed as "Pokemon With Guns."

This has led to a shortage of stock, so much so that Bushiroad's Japanese social media account addressed it in a post. That post apologized to fans who were unable to buy any cards and is taking internal measures to ensure cards are available to as many people as possible. Those measures include a fresh shipment of Dawn of Palpagos to Japanese pop-up stores, and the removal of shrink wrap on booster boxes.

These countermeasures make it clear that a major factor in the Palworld TCG card shortage is scalpers; people who buy cards in bulk to sell at marked-up prices online. The "shrinkwrap tactic" is used since it lowers the resale value of that booster box, making it more difficult for scalpers to resell it. It's not a perfect solution; certain individual cards can sell for high sums as well, but it's a start. 

Scalpers have been a persistent problem in the tabletop community. The Pokémon Company printed large volumes of cards before the Pokémon 30th anniversary release to get ahead of demand. Wizards of the Coast recently implemented a print-to-order window for its upcoming Hatsune Miku Secret Lair Commander deck. If this approach to boxes catches on outside of Japan, there's a chance that the problem can be mitigated.

Tyler Chancey | Staff Writer

Ever since he was small, Tyler Chancey has had a deep, abiding love for video games and a tendency to think and overanalyze everything he enjoyed. This… More about Tyler

More Info About This Game Learn More About Palworld Game Page Palworld Developer POCKET PAIR, Inc. Publisher POCKET PAIR, Inc. Platforms PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S Release Date January 19, 2024 (Calendar) Genre RPG Purchase (Some links may be affiliated) Steam Dedicated Servers

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