Pocketpair will keep Palworld small and will focus on spinoffs, not a media empire
John Buckley told GamesRadar+ that Pocketpair plans more small Palworld tie-ins such as Palfarm and a dating-visual novel, but doesn't want to build a sprawling media franchise.
Pocketpair’s publishing lead, John Buckley, said the studio has no interest in turning Palworld into a sprawling media enterprise. In an interview with GamesRadar+, he framed the team’s approach as focused on small, fan-friendly projects rather than a large franchise push.
Palworld has already produced multiple spin-offs: the cozy sim Palfarm and Palworld: More Than Just Pals, a school dating sim and visual novel. Buckley said Pocketpair sees demand for this kind of content but doesn’t want to overextend the brand.
How a video game like this one can get all the way to here? I am super confused. From the early steps of being a local Pokemon GO game if you ask me, it got to experiment with multiple different things. At one time, you’d say, there’s no way a game like this one succeeds, but then, you actually get to see it blooming with players. Explain me that? Either way, as they have said in the interview…
“Personally, I don’t think Palworld is going to be like this media empire, and we have no desire to be a media empire,” Buckley said, adding that the studio expects there will be “more kind of fun little Palworld stuff” and that third parties might pursue other ideas down the line.
He also discussed plans for the main game’s 1.0 launch during the same interview, outlining that the team is balancing continued development of the survival title with occasional spin-offs that appeal to different audiences.
Palworld’s mix of survival, creature collecting, and offbeat spinoff projects has kept the property visible, but Pocketpair’s stance suggests future expansions will be measured and largely game-focused rather than a broad entertainment push.
Tell us what you think about Pocketpair’s plan and whether you’d play the existing spinoffs or new Palworld experiments. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments and follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram.
Palworld
Developed by PocketPair
Palworld is a multiplayer, open-world survival crafting game where you can befriend and collect mysterious creatures called "Pal" in a vast world! Make your Pals fight, build, farm, and work in factories.
- Genre: Shooter, Role-playing (RPG), Hack and slash/Beat 'em up, Adventure, Indie
- Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Mac, Xbox One
- Modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative, Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO)
- Release: 2024-01-19
- Publisher: PocketPair
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Age Rating:
ACB PG / PEGI 12 / GRAC ALL / CLASS_IND 10 / ESRB T / USK 12
- IGDB Rating: 71.5/100
