Palworld dev says "you won't regret" playing more indies instead of "the latest battlepass in your favorite AAA game"

Pal wields a massive turret in a screenshot from Palworld
(Image credit: Pocketpair)

Palworld community manager John "Bucky" Buckley is imploring everyone to play more indie games, even if that means missing out on your favorite AAA game's latest battle pass.

In a lengthy Twitter post, Bucky follows up on comments he made earlier in the week about how people should play the games they enjoy regardless of how active their playerbases are. Bucky explains that the first half hour of his mornings are spent exploring the 'New and Trending' and 'Upcoming' tabs on Steam in search of new and lesser known games to add to his Wishlist.

"I try to play as many games as I can in general, but I put a lot more of my time into indies because I believe that’s where the real innovation is happening," he says. And while he isn't "against playing big games and AAA titles," he generally gravitates toward indies because they're typically less time-consuming.

Frankly, that's a big mood for me lately. It doesn't stop me from playing absolute behemoths like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and Persona 3 Reload, but it sure would be nice if they didn't collectively take up hundreds of hours of my life.

"There is such a massive library of games on Steam, and many of them go unnoticed by the average gamer," Bucky says. "There are indies on Steam that are on par with the best of the best, but they never get their moment in the spotlight. Is it realistic to ask gamers to play more indies? No. Am I going to do it anyway? Yes."

Ultimately, Bucky's message is clear: "Play indies. Dig through Steam. Forego the latest battlepass in your favourite AAA game and use that money to buy a couple of cool indies instead. You won’t regret it."

Now's not a bad time to peruse our list of upcoming indie games you should have on your radar.

Jordan Gerblick

After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer, I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.

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