(Image credit: Pocketpair)
Palworld made an astounding impact when it launched in 2024. Often referred to as ‘Pokemon with guns‘—though the creators have tried to move away from that label—the game’s immense success led developer Pocketpair to establish its own publishing division. Within just a week of announcing this new venture, the company received an impressive 150 pitches. But according to communications director and publishing manager, John ‘Bucky’ Buckley, ideas started flowing in even earlier.
In a conversation with GamesRadar+ at GDC 2025, Buckley shared, “No one has money at the moment. Minutes—yes, minutes after Palworld launched, we began receiving pitches although we weren’t even a publisher then.” He remarked on a trend of urgency driven by current financial constraints: “I think there was this desperate belief of ‘we need money’ that’s pervasive now, prompting many to reach out to us.” While it’s expected for indie teams, like Surgent Studios, to seek funding, Buckley noted that their proposals weren’t just interest from small developers. Amazingly, some major players also approached them, “Some really big names reached out—AAA, AA, premium indies—all sorts of contacts.”
Despite not having an established publishing branch at the start, Pocketpair was open to hearing what developers had to offer. “We began meeting these people early last year, listening to ideas. Being candid, we said, hey, we aren’t publishers yet, but we’re open to discussions. We thought extensively internally about what we could and couldn’t do,” this transparency eventually catalyzed Pocketpair Publishing. Buckley affirmed, “We want to aid cool indies in getting their projects made, even the premium indies, the AAs.”
Not restricted to a specific niche, Buckley stated, “We’re accepting of anything pitch-wise right now. A few fundamental ‘no-nos’ include gambling games and projects heavy on crypto, which aren’t in our plans. Genre-wise, we’re wide open. Platform-wise, we’re wide open,” he expressed, “We’re keen on helping people bring their quirky ideas to life.” While Palworld won’t be on the Nintendo Switch, he mentioned that releasing it on a Nintendo Switch 2 is “100% worth considering.”
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