In a recent interview, the CEO of Palworld<\/em> developer Pocketpair has said the open world survival game has proved so profitable that it is “too big for a studio with our size to handle.”<\/p>
While not Pocketpair’s first game, Palworld<\/em><\/a> is undoubtedly its most popular, with its player count<\/a> exploding upon its early access launch in January. Exactly how much money Palworld<\/em> has made <\/a>hasn’t been shared, but in a March 14 interview with Bloomberg<\/a>, Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe confirmed Palworld<\/em> had made tens of billions of yen in profit: an impressive yet intimidating amount for a smaller independent studio compared to some of the bigger names out there.<\/p>
Pocketpair was only established in 2015 and, to date, consists of 55 employees, according to Mizobe. Yet the runaway success of Palworld<\/em> hasn’t encouraged Mizobe to start expanding the company or hiring more staff. “We are and will remain a small studio,” Mizobe told the publication. “I want to make multiple small games. Big-budget triple-A games are not for us.” So, don’t expect Pocketpair’s next game to be an even bigger undertaking than Palworld<\/em>, which already features a huge open world to explore, detailed crafting mechanics, and over 100 Pals to capture<\/a>.<\/p>
That said, Mizobe hasn’t ruled out potential partnerships with other companies or even acquisition offers. I’m sure Palworld<\/em>‘s success has made Pocketpair an attractive buyout opportunity to large publishers. Given Microsoft’s track record of hoarding up studios, you’d think it’d be first in line, especially with Palworld<\/em>‘s launch on Xbox Game Pass<\/a> attracting millions of players. However, Mizobe has confirmed Pocketpair is in no such acquisition talks with Microsoft.<\/p>
No doubt Pocketpair is under a lot of pressure to ensure Palworld<\/em> remains successful in the long-run. After all, it’s not a one and done game, with plenty of content promised in a roadmap<\/a>, like PvP and raids. In fact, the first raid battle<\/a> was recently teased, but it lacks of release date.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
