Last summer, Palworld's developer, Pocketpair, entered into an exciting agreement with Sony Music Entertainment. This collaboration aims to expand the Palworld universe beyond gaming, venturing into merchandise, music, and various other products. However, this business deal sparked some confusion among fans who mistakenly thought it hinted at an upcoming acquisition. This confusion was further fueled by earlier rumors suggesting that Pocketpair was in discussions with Microsoft about a potential buyout.
Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe later clarified that these acquisition rumors were untrue at the time. Nevertheless, the speculation persisted, especially given Microsoft's aggressive acquisition strategy in the AA gaming industry and their interest in Japanese developers, alongside Sony's own acquisitions in the gaming sector.
The big question remains: Will Pocketpair ever be acquired? The decision ultimately rests with Mizobe. When I had the opportunity to discuss this with Pocketpair's communications director and publishing manager, John 'Bucky' Buckley, at the Game Developers Conference last month, he expressed a strong belief that an acquisition was highly unlikely.
"Our CEO would never allow it," Buckley emphasized. "He'd never allow it. He'd never allow it. He would never, never allow it. He likes doing his own thing and being his own boss. He doesn't like people telling him what to do."
Buckley's words were emphatic. He went on to say, "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."
During our conversation, Buckley and I also delved into the possibility of Palworld making its way to the Nintendo Switch 2, the studio's response to the game being dubbed "Pokemon with guns," and much more. You can dive into our full interview right here.
