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  1. Games
  2. Survival Games
  3. Palworld

Palworld devs are "still bad at spending money and we're still bad at saving money" according to Pocketpair publishing head, as the studio "can take risks others can't"

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By Ashley Bardhan Contributions by Austin Wood
Published 23 March 2026

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Shocked Palworld creature looking into a box
(Image credit: Pocketpair)
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Money can't buy you happiness, but Palworld gets the job done. Pocketpair head of publishing John "Bucky" Buckley tells GamesRadar+ the studio is "still bad at spending money, and we're still bad at saving money" – reaffirming what he told us last year when we asked how Pocketpair handles the stocked Palworld treasury. He's completely at peace with it.

"That's just what comes from having a big game like Palworld," he continues. "You're kind of in the position where you can take risks others can't take, which is exciting. But, you know, at the same time, you have to be careful."

Pocketpair is currently walking a tightrope while feeding the birds – it's managing its accounts while actively toiling on production for Palworld 1.0, scheduled to release this year, as well as publishing a variety of creepy adventure games like Dead Take, Cassette Boy, and Never Grave. Plus, it's preparing to release a line of fancy toys.

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"Obviously, a big learning experience," Buckley says about Pocketpair's publishing wing, "but it's been a lot of fun."

The games in its library are getting "bigger and bigger as we go along, as the team expands, as we get more experience with it. Learning a lot about how funding of games works," Buckley adds. "I admit, I was a bit worried about it in the beginning, because it was so alien to us. But I think we backed the right horses early on."

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  • Palworld 1.0 launch trailer screenshot shows a Pal tamer petting a smiling Lamball. Palworld 1.0 spurred more "manufactured dramas," says lead – but don't let that put you off
  • Palworld trainer pointing Pocketpair lead thought if Palworld 1.0 hit 200k players, "that'd be party time" – it passed 900k
  • Palworld 1.0 cinematic trailer screenshot shows a woman with red hair holding a Pal Sphere. Palworld 1.0 is "for the fans," so Pocketpair wasn't "thinking about critic reception," lead says

"We have no desire to be a media empire," says Palworld publishing head, but Pocketpair would be stupid to let the survival game die out.

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CATEGORIES
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Ashley Bardhan
Ashley Bardhan
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Ashley is a Senior Writer at GamesRadar+. She's been a staff writer at Kotaku and Inverse, too, and she's written freelance pieces about horror and women in games for sites like Rolling Stone, Vulture, IGN, and Polygon. When she's not covering gaming news, she's usually working on expanding her doll collection while watching Saw movies one through 11.

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Palworld 1.0 launch trailer screenshot shows a Pal tamer petting a smiling Lamball.
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