Palworld CEO Rejects Acquisition, Values Independence

Last summer, the developer of Palworld, Pocketpair, entered into a significant business agreement with Sony Music Entertainment. This collaboration aimed to expand the Palworld universe beyond gaming, venturing into merchandise, music, and other products. However, this partnership led to some confusion among fans, who interpreted it as a potential precursor to an acquisition, especially following earlier rumors that Pocketpair was in discussions with Microsoft about a buyout.

Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe later clarified that the acquisition rumors were unfounded at the time, yet they sparked considerable discussion within the gaming community. Since then, speculation has continued, fueled by Microsoft's aggressive acquisition strategy in the AA gaming sector and their reported interest in Japanese developers, as well as Sony's own acquisition moves.

The question of whether Pocketpair will ever be acquired remains open, but it largely depends on Mizobe's decisions. At the recent Game Developers Conference, I had the opportunity to discuss this with John 'Bucky' Buckley, Pocketpair's communications director and publishing manager. Buckley firmly dismissed the idea of an acquisition, stating, "Our CEO would 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 emphatic response underscores Mizobe's strong preference for independence. He further elaborated, "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 discussing potential acquisitions, Buckley and I also touched on the possibility of Palworld being released on the Nintendo Switch 2, the studio's reaction to the game being dubbed "Pokemon with guns," and other topics. For a detailed account of our conversation, you can read the full interview here.