Last summer, the developer of Palworld, Pocketpair, signed a deal with Sony Music Entertainment to broaden the Palworld universe beyond gaming through merchandise, music, and other products. This business agreement led some fans to mistakenly believe that an acquisition was imminent, especially following rumors earlier in the year suggesting Pocketpair was in discussions with Microsoft for a potential buyout.
Despite the swirling acquisition rumors, Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe later clarified that these talks were untrue at the time, yet they certainly sparked widespread discussion. Since then, speculation has continued among fans about a possible acquisition, fueled by Microsoft's aggressive acquisition strategy within the AA gaming sector and their interest in Japanese developers, as well as Sony's own acquisitions in response.
So, will Pocketpair ever be acquired? The decision ultimately rests with Mizobe. When I posed this question to Pocketpair's communications director and publishing manager, John 'Bucky' Buckley, at the Game Developers Conference last month, he expressed a strong belief that an acquisition is highly unlikely.
“Our CEO would never allow it,” Buckley stated emphatically. “He'd never allow it. He'd never allow it. He would never, never allow it. He likes doing his own thing and he likes being his own boss. He doesn't like people telling him what to do.”
Buckley elaborated further, saying, “So I would be shocked. Maybe when he's old, and he might just sell it off for money. And that would be sad, but in my lifetime, I probably won't see it. No, it'll be interesting to see where the two paths go. We, Pocketpair, are obviously only involved in where the game path is going. Palworld as an IP, we are involved, but it’s very much in the hands of Aniplex and Sony Music who are steering that ship right now. We are just offering our advice and thoughts as they take that.”
Buckley and I also spoke about the potential for Palworld to be released on the Nintendo Switch 2, the studio's response to the game being labeled “Pokemon with guns”, and much more. You can delve into our full conversation right here.
