Palworld Developer Pocketpair Does Not Want To Become 'A Media Empire'

Pocketpair has been earning a string of success with Palworld since its release. Combining animal collecting with an open world farm simulation game, it has maintained its popularity with regular updates for players to enjoy. They are also still battling video game mega-giants Nintendo in a lawsuit over patent infringement. Amidst this, Pocketpair has been seemingly caught off guard by the reception and the revenue garnered by its software. There is a spin-off upcoming, Palworld: Palfarm, which is a cozy simulator with the same energy as Stardew Valley. Despite spin-offs in the works to capitalize off the momentum, Pocketpair apparently wants to stay humble about their IP.

John Buckley, the head of Pocketpair's publishing and communication, spoke with GamesRadar+ and discussed the popularity and success of their game, and he indicated Palworld is not aiming to become giants in the industry.

"...It's more so that we're just kind of doing what our players are asking us to do," Buckley said about Palfarm. "When it comes to games like Palworld: Palfarm, these exist because a lot of people just wanted to interact with the original game's Pals in a slightly friendlier environment. "We can't do that in Palworld. There's no way to really make this work."

Understandable. there is also the existence of the Palworld dating simulator, Palworld: More Than Just Pals, which can also be added to your Steam wishlist.

What lies inside the mysterious World Tree? An exciting school life filled with cute Pals! Will you remain friends or fall in love? Or dismantle and eat them...🍴 Your dream school romance starts here in this Palworld dating sim!

Now that's quite the direct marketing with a fan base. Buckley spoke about this as well:, and sentiments were echoed when addressing the mobile game and trading card game that are also in the works.

"I won't talk much about it but there is, again, a huge community who wants something like that, and that's why we kind of spun that up. "Personally, I don't think Palworld is going to be like this media empire, and we have no desire to be a media empire. But I think we can expect more kind of fun little Palworld stuff. And maybe, you know, if someone wants to, maybe someone else can take a stab at it at some point."

It's a very cozy approach, but Pocketpair is very adamant about experimenting with the success of Palworld to dip their feelers into other ventures and seeing what sticks. If there is a fan base for something, it would only make sense to provide a venue for that to capitalize off, certainly smarter than placing all of their eggs into one basket. The name placed them on the map, and if that opens doors for third party crossovers or an animated series, then their impact on the world of gaming has been marked. Being indie darlings is a decent place to be in 2026.

SOURCE: GamesRadar+