Palworld Communications Director Says Developer Unlikely to Be Acquired: ‘Our CEO Would Never Allow It’

Last summer, Palworld developer Pocketpair signed a deal with Sony Music Entertainment to produce merchandise, music, and other products around Palworld. Although this deal was purely a business arrangement aimed at expanding the Palworld universe beyond video games, it sparked speculation among fans that it might signal an impending acquisition. This confusion was fueled by earlier rumors that Pocketpair had been in discussions with Microsoft about a potential buyout.

Contrary to the acquisition rumors, Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe later clarified that no such deal was in place at that time. However, the speculation persisted, driven by Microsoft's aggressive acquisition strategy within the AA gaming industry and their reported interest in Japanese developers, as well as Sony's own series of acquisitions in response.

The question remains: will Pocketpair ever be acquired? The decision ultimately lies with Mizobe. At the Game Developers Conference last month, I spoke with Pocketpair's communications director and publishing manager, John 'Bucky' Buckley, who expressed strong skepticism about the likelihood of an acquisition.

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

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 called “Pokemon with guns”, and much more in our interview. You can read the full discussion right here.