In a recent interview, the CEO of Palworld 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.”
While not Pocketpair’s first game, Palworld is undoubtedly its most popular, with its player count exploding upon its early access launch in January. Exactly how much money Palworld has made hasn’t been shared, but in a March 14 interview with Bloomberg, Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe confirmed Palworld 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.
Pocketpair was only established in 2015 and, to date, consists of 55 employees, according to Mizobe. Yet the runaway success of Palworld 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, which already features a huge open world to explore, detailed crafting mechanics, and over 100 Pals to capture.
That said, Mizobe hasn’t ruled out potential partnerships with other companies or even acquisition offers. I’m sure Palworld‘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‘s launch on Xbox Game Pass attracting millions of players. However, Mizobe has confirmed Pocketpair is in no such acquisition talks with Microsoft.
No doubt Pocketpair is under a lot of pressure to ensure Palworld remains successful in the long-run. After all, it’s not a one and done game, with plenty of content promised in a roadmap, like PvP and raids. In fact, the first raid battle was recently teased, but it lacks of release date.
