Palworld developer Pocketpair recently launched its own publishing arm, and after receiving "hundreds" of pitches, publishing manager John 'Bucky' Buckley clearly has a lot of sympathy for devs "desperate for funding," who could easily be taken advantage of with "horrific contracts."
Pocketpair Publishing opened its doors last month and announced its very first project – a horror game from Tales of Kenzera: ZAU dev Surgent Studios. This is just the beginning though, as the publisher quickly received loads more pitches from other developers. Bucky made it clear that the mission is all about "giving devs the financial freedom to make games they want so they DON'T have to get wrapped up with stinky rule makers and bullies." It sounds like the latter is something that the publishing manager has become even more aware of in recent weeks.
Something I’ve noticed after hundreds of publishing pitches and meetings is how easy it would be to take advantage of devs and make them sign horrific contracts. Everyone is so desperate for funding that it really wouldn’t take much effort for some devious bastard to yoink…February 12, 2025
He describes the situation as a "pretty sad state of affairs," and it really is when you consider just how much the games industry has been struggling lately. From mass layoffs to studio closures, we've seen an enormous amount of talented devs lose their jobs in recent years, and as many have attested, getting funding for games is very difficult in the current climate, too.
Later down in his Twitter thread, Bucky states that "a lot of unsavory people are wrapping these deals up in pretty nasty contracts that give them the control and authority to shutters studios and pinch IPs if they feel they are 'underperforming.'" Here's hoping that with the goals he's previously shared for Pocketpair Publishing in mind, the Palworld makers might be able to help some devs avoid getting involved with the "pretty nasty contracts" he mentions.
