Palworld's creator wants the development studio to stay small because "big-budget triple-A games are not for us."
Palworld certainly performed like a big-budget blockbuster as the monster-taming survival game had over two million Steam players logged in at the same time, rivaling the very biggest hits on the platform. Pocketpair CEO and director Takuro Mizobe now claims the team won't substantially grow, despite the game's staggering success.
"We are and will remain a small studio," Mizobe explains in an interview with Bloomberg. "I want to make multiple small games. Big-budget triple-A games are not for us." The studio previously developed card-battler Overdungeon, party drawing game AI: Art Imposter, and the genre-blending open-worlder Craftopia, though all were relatively inexpensive projects.
- Palworld dev reckons "very few companies could survive" a launch like theirs: "A lot of companies might crumble under the threats, under the pressure, under the negativity"
- As Palworld studio's publishing branch teases new reveals, its head is "nervous" that "people will just expect more" games like its survival hit
Palworld itself reportedly cost around one billion yen (or $6.7 million) to develop, a number that's minuscule compared to the unsustainable budgets at other big studios. The game has since returned several billions of yen in profit, though the CEO reckons it's "too big for a studio with our size to handle."
Mizobe believes that smaller studios spearhead innovation in game design, and with Palworld pretty much bankrolling whatever the team works on next, Pocketpair has free reign to work on whatever it wishes in the future. Mizobe reveals that the studio has no plans to become a publicly traded company, and has had no acquisition conversations with Microsoft, who they partnered with on a successful Game Pass launch.
For now, the director seems sure on how to go forward: by creating games that are fun to watch, fun to play, and fun to discuss. "Games are most fun when playing with friends," Mizobe continued. "A game without a multiplayer mode just doesn't feel right in the era we live today."
It's no surprise, then, to see PvP and a Pal versus Pal Arena heavily highlighted in the game's content roadmap. Some other "very cool things" were recently teased for the "Pokemon with guns" hit, too.
In the meantime, check out this DS-style Palworld demake that is inspired by Pokemon Black and the handheld Zelda games.
