Palworld Developer Responds To Microsoft Acquisition Rumors
One of the biggest surprises this year is the smashing success of Palworld, from a little developer named Pocketpair. The game–known as “Pokemon with guns”–has seen a lot of Xbox marketing because of its inclusion on Game Pass, but that doesn’t mean Microsoft is eyeing to acquire the studio. In fact, Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe says no discussions have even taken place with the company.
Bloomberg talked to Mizobe about Pocketpair possibly being purchased or even partnering up with other companies. While the Pocketpair founder is open to these ideas, he said formal talks aren’t happening. Instead, Pocketpair is focusing on staying small–the developer has 55 employees–and exploring new platforms for Palworld. PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch would be the most obvious destinations, but no specifics were given.
“We are and will remain a small studio,” Mizobe said. “I want to make multiple small games. Big-budget, AAA games are not for us.” In fact, Mizobe revealed that Palworld cost under $6.7 million to make, which is a fraction of the reported budgets for games like The Last of Us Part II and Horizon Forbidden West.