‘Palworld’ in “talks” to launch on other platforms, studio open to acquisition

15 March, 2024

Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe has said the studio is in talks to bring Palworld to other platforms.

Since it launched earlier this year, Palworld has become one of the biggest and most popular games of 2024. Created by indie studio Pocketpair, the open-world creature collecting game is currently available via Steam and Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass subscription service.

Now Mizobe has confirmed the studio is in talks to launch on “more platforms”.

The interview with Bloomberg doesn’t mention what platforms those might be, but there has been plenty of speculation about a PlayStation launch.

In January, PlayStation head of indies Shuhei Yoshida responded to a post that asked Sony Interactive Entertainment to “support” [Palworld] so that the PS5 version can be released as soon as possible” with a simple “yes”.

The same month, Palworld’s community manager Bucky took to social media and wrote: “This [previous tweet] was by no means a statement that Palworld will never come to PlayStation.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Mizobe said he “isn’t confident that Pocketpair can create another game as wildly popular as Palworld” and explained that the reason for its success is multiplayer. “Games are most fun when playing with friends. A game without a multiplayer mode just doesn’t feel right in the era we live in today.”

He went on to say that while Pocketpair is happy being an independent studio, he’s open to consider offers for partnership or acquisition but isn’t currently in talks with Microsoft.

“We are and will remain a small studio,” he added. “I want to make multiple small games. Big-budget triple-A games are not for us.”

Earlier this year, Xbox released a handful of previously-exclusive games on “rival consoles” as an experiment. Both Grounded and Pentiment headed to Nintendo Switch while Hi-Fi Rush and Sea Of Thieves are coming to the PS5.

Former CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Shawn Layden went on to call exclusivity the “achilles’ heel” of the industry. “As your platform becomes established as the market recognises where you sit in that pantheon of gaming options, I think the necessity of exclusivity becomes a little bit less.”

Earlier this month, Arrowhead Game Studios had to deny speculation they were set to be acquired by Sony after the runaway success of Helldivers 2.

In other news, Ubisoft Montpellier has confirmed a post-release roadmap for Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown featuring new bosses, stories and game modes.

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