Palworld CEO Vows Independence: 'Acquisition Unlikely'

Last summer, Palworld developer Pocketpair signed a deal with Sony Music Entertainment to expand the Palworld universe through merchandise, music, and other products. This business agreement, however, led some fans to mistakenly believe that an acquisition by Sony was imminent, especially following rumors earlier in the year about Pocketpair being in talks with Microsoft for a potential acquisition.

Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe later debunked these acquisition rumors, but the discussions continued among fans. This speculation was fueled by Microsoft's recent acquisitions of numerous AA studios and their interest in Japanese developers, as well as Sony's own strategic acquisitions in the gaming industry.

The question remains: will Pocketpair ever be acquired? The decision ultimately lies with Mizobe. At the recent Game Developers Conference, I spoke with Pocketpair's communications director and publishing manager, John 'Bucky' Buckley, who expressed strong doubts about any potential acquisition.

“Our CEO would never allow it,” Buckley stated emphatically. “He likes doing his own thing and being his own boss. He doesn’t like people telling him what to do.”

Buckley elaborated further: “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.”

Buckley and I also discussed the potential of Palworld coming to the Nintendo Switch 2, the studio’s reaction to the game being dubbed “Pokemon with guns,” and more in our interview. You can read the full discussion [ttpp].