Palworld Side by Side Update: Release Date and Poll Results

Side by Side is the name of Palworld's next content update, and Pocketpair has put it on the calendar for Winter 2026. This guide covers everything that is actually confirmed, who the three shadowed figures in the teaser appear to be, the full Global Popularity Poll 2026 results that dropped alongside it, and how to get the winning Pals into your Palbox before the patch arrives.

Side by Side Update at a Glance

The reveal was short: a name, a season and a teaser image, announced on October 20, 2026 together with the popularity poll results. There is no exact date, no feature list and no platform list yet, so anything in the table marked "not announced" is genuinely unknown rather than ruled out. The one safe assumption is price — every build since 1.0 has been a free update, and nothing about Side by Side suggests otherwise so far.

What the Teaser Silhouettes Suggest

The teaser shows three blacked-out human figures, and their outlines line up neatly with Zoe, Auri and Saya — the same three who topped the character side of the poll. Pocketpair hasn't said what they are doing in the update, so treat everything below as an educated read rather than a confirmed feature. Still, an update named Side by Side, fronted by three tower bosses, points strongly at content built around Palworld's human cast: more of their story, quests that involve them, or some way of fighting alongside them instead of against them.

Character	Partner Pal	Where you meet them now	Normal / Hard Lv	Diary pages
Zoe Rayne	Grizzbolt (Electric)	Rayne Syndicate Tower, the first tower boss	10 / 72	5
Auri	Shaolong (Dragon / Water)	Azure Covenant Tower, the last of the eight	68 / 80	6
Saya Kurosaki	Selyne (Dark / Neutral)	Moonflower Tower on Sakurajima	55 / 80	5

The spread is interesting: Zoe is the very first boss most players beat, while Auri is the final hurdle before the hard mode towers open up. Their diaries are the best preview of where a story update could go — Zoe's five pages end with her asking why she guards the tower at all, Saya's describe a moon over Sakurajima that never wanes, and Auri's six pages read like someone waiting for a challenger to end things. All 16 entries are mapped in all journal locations.

Zoe and Grizzbolt

Zoe is the fan favourite of the three and won the character vote outright. On normal she is a level 10 Electric fight that Ground attackers flatten; on hard mode the same duo comes back at level 72 with 464,000 HP and a five-minute timer. Clearing hard mode awards the Zoe Hat, which is worth grabbing now if you want to match the update's theme. The full breakdown is in how to beat Hard Mode Zoe and Grizzbolt.

Auri and Shaolong

Auri took second in the character poll and guards the Azure Covenant Tower. She fights alone, without any human escorts, and her Dragon / Water partner Shaolong is weak to Ice, Electric and Grass. The hard mode version sits at level 80 with 501,600 HP and drops the Auri Hat on the first clear — see how to beat Hard Mode Auri and Shaolong.

Saya and Selyne

Saya placed third and runs the Moonflower Tower with two Moonflower Genin and a Moonflower Jonin backing her up. Selyne is Dark / Neutral, so Dragon and Dark attackers are your answer. Hard mode tops out at level 80 with 567,300 HP, the beefiest of the three, and rewards the Saya Hat. Our Hard Mode Saya and Selyne guide has the team, and the Moonflower Tower XP farm is a good excuse to visit the area repeatedly.

Global Popularity Poll 2026 Results

The poll split into two rankings, one for Pals and one for human characters. On the Pal side, Sekhmet took first, with Solenne second and Chillet third — an interesting mix of a mid-game desert Pal, an endgame World Tree Pal and one of the earliest mounts in the game. The character ranking went Zoe, Auri, Saya, which is exactly the trio hiding in the Side by Side teaser.

Rank	Pal	Element	Paldeck	Best work	Why players love it
1st	Sekhmet	Ground	#140	Handiwork 6	A stylish desert queen with a Work Speed boost that pairs with Anubis
2nd	Solenne	Dark / Neutral	#182	Handiwork 8	Top-tier Handiwork plus an 80% Ranged Attack partner skill at max rank
3rd	Chillet	Ice / Dragon	#103	Cooling 2	A rideable level 11 alpha that turns your shots into Dragon damage

Rank	Character	Partner Pal	Tower boss level (Normal)
1st	Zoe	Grizzbolt	10
2nd	Auri	Shaolong	68
3rd	Saya	Selyne	55

Two of the three winning Pals are workers first and fighters second, which says a lot about how people actually play — base-building favourites win popularity contests. Solenne's Handiwork 8 is among the highest in the game, so it doubles as a genuinely strong pick for the best Pals for Handiwork list, not just a pretty face.

How to Get the Poll-Winning Pals

All three winners can be caught in the wild, and all three can be bred if you'd rather skip the hunt. Here is where each one stands, ordered by how early you can realistically get it.

Pal	Wild level	Map spawn points	Partner skill (max rank)	Fastest route
Chillet	11–80	117	Wriggling Weasel — Dragon shots, +20% Ranged Attack	Level 11 alpha near Fort Ruins
Sekhmet	37–80	360	Desert Empress — +40% Work Speed to Anubis	Desert spawns, or a Large Rocky Egg
Solenne	76–78	47	Untainted Maiden — +80% Ranged Attack	World Tree spawns, or breed Anubis × Hartalis

Chillet

Chillet is the easiest of the three by a mile. The level 11 alpha roams the grassland around (178, -414), a short walk south of the Fort Ruins statue, and it also hatches from Frozen Eggs if you're already doing cold-region nest runs. Bring Fire attackers — the Ice half of its typing folds to them — and side-step when it rears up for its dragon beam. The Chillet Saddle unlocks at technology level 11, giving you a Dragon-damage mount long before most players own an actual dragon. See all 117 Chillet spawn points on the map.

Sekhmet

Sekhmet spawns at levels 37 to 80 across 360 map points, so it is common once you reach the desert. Its partner skill only boosts Anubis, and only when both work at the same base, so either pair them or treat Sekhmet as a solid Handiwork 6 worker. If you'd rather not fight, it can hatch from a Large Rocky Egg out of grade 1 desert nests, though the odds sit at roughly 1.16% per egg. Breeding has 144 known pairings, including Anubis × Icelyn — plug your Palbox into the Palworld breeding calculator to find one you already own. See all 360 Sekhmet spawn points on the map.

Solenne

Solenne is the late-game pick: wild ones only appear at levels 76 to 78 and there are just 47 spawn points, so expect a proper fight. It is Dark / Neutral, and it drops Dark Fragments every time plus a 50% shot at World Tree Holy Water. Breeding is the friendlier route — 46 pairings exist, with Anubis × Hartalis and Astegon × Jetragon among them. Once you have one, its +80% Ranged Attack at max rank makes it a strong gun-build partner on top of its Handiwork 8. See all 47 Solenne spawn points on the map.

What to Do Before Side by Side Arrives

With a character-focused update on the way, the smart prep is anything tied to Zoe, Auri and Saya. None of this is required, but it puts you in the best spot if the update builds on their stories or fights.

The Short Answer

Side by Side is Palworld's next content update, due in Winter 2026 with no exact date, platform list or features announced. The teaser hints at Zoe, Auri and Saya, who also topped the character poll, while Sekhmet, Solenne and Chillet won the Pal vote. Keep an eye on Palworld patch notes and version history for the release day.

Related Guides

Hubs: all Palworld guides · full Paldeck · Palworld interactive map · all tower bosses Updates and roadmap: Palworld roadmap after 1.0 · Palworld 1.1 update · Palworld 1.0.5 patch notes · Palworld patch notes Tower bosses: how to unlock hard mode towers · Hard Mode Zoe and Grizzbolt · Hard Mode Auri and Shaolong · Hard Mode Saya and Selyne Collecting: all journal locations · all Pal skins · best Pals for Handiwork · best Pals for Cooling