Palworld CEO Vows Independence: 'No Acquisition Allowed'

Last summer, the developer of Palworld, Pocketpair, entered into a significant business agreement with Sony Music Entertainment. This deal was aimed at expanding the Palworld universe beyond gaming into merchandise, music, and other products. However, this collaboration led to some confusion among fans, who mistakenly believed it signaled an impending acquisition, especially following earlier rumors that Pocketpair might be in discussions with Microsoft for such a move.

Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe later clarified that the acquisition rumors were unfounded, yet they sparked a flurry of discussions within the gaming community. The speculation grew stronger with Microsoft's aggressive acquisition strategy across the AA gaming sector and its interest in Japanese developers, alongside Sony's own series of acquisitions in response.

The question on many fans' minds is whether Pocketpair will ever be acquired. The decision ultimately rests with Mizobe. When I discussed this with Pocketpair's communications director and publishing manager, John 'Bucky' Buckley, at last month's Game Developers Conference, he expressed strong skepticism about the possibility of an acquisition.

"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's firm stance suggests that an acquisition is highly unlikely in the near future. He added, "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."

In addition to the acquisition discussion, Buckley and I also touched on the potential of Palworld being released on the Nintendo Switch 2, the studio's response to the game being labeled "Pokemon with guns," and other topics. You can dive into our full conversation [ttpp].