Last summer, Palworld developer Pocketpair signed a deal with Sony Music Entertainment to expand the Palworld universe beyond gaming through merchandise, music, and other products. This business agreement led some fans to mistakenly believe it signaled an impending acquisition, especially following rumors earlier in the year that Pocketpair was in talks with Microsoft for a buyout.
Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe later debunked these acquisition rumors, yet the speculation continued, fueled by Microsoft's acquisitions in the AA gaming sector and their interest in Japanese developers, as well as Sony's own acquisitions. The question remains: will Pocketpair ever be acquired? The decision ultimately rests with Mizobe. When I discussed this with communications director and publishing manager John 'Bucky' Buckley at the Game Developers Conference, he firmly stated that an acquisition was highly unlikely.
"Our CEO would never allow it," Buckley emphasized. "He likes doing his own thing and being his own boss. He doesn't like people telling him what to do." This strong stance suggests that Mizobe values independence and autonomy over the potential benefits of acquisition.
Buckley further elaborated, "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 spoke about the possibility 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 right here.
