The Palworld universe is expanding quite a bit in the coming months. Developer and publisher Pocketpair has got a dating sim, a farming sim, and an MMO on the slate, and while you might think elements of these would make more sense as expansions of the main game, the team isn't keen on simply replicating Fortnite's metaverse-type model.
"I can certainly understand why some people might expect us to take Palworld in that direction," John 'Bucky' Buckley, the head of publishing and communications at Pocketpair, tells MP1st. "But for us, we just want to make fun games in our own way. I know it sounds a bit cliché, but while we obviously want our games to be successful, maximizing revenue as quickly as possible isn’t what drives our creative decisions."
Indeed, given the fervent community around Palworld, there's been plenty of opportunity to turn the game into a money-making machine through crossovers and microtransactions and whatever. But the biggest purchase remains simply buying the monster-collecting experience, and it's a model that's working for all involved thus far.
In keeping separate ideas just that and making them their own games, it allows Pocketpair to explore the mechanics involved and create disparate projects that may be more attractive to other players. "When it comes to Palworld, we feel that some ideas would be better served as standalone games, where we can fully design the gameplay systems, pacing, and overall experience around that specific concept," Buckley adds.
"Palfarm is a good example. Rather than trying to fit that experience into Palworld as just one mode, we believe making it a standalone title gives it more room to develop its own identity and become something special in its own right," he continues. "We don’t see this as one approach being better than the other. Different games and IPs will naturally benefit from different strategies."
The resistance to homogeneity is refreshing, and it's likely to be a real strength in years to come. It allows Palworld to exist in multiple different forms, so if one starts to wane for whatever reason, others are there to help hoist the overall property. The Fortnite model of having everything in the same platform places a lot of emphasis on one audience, a plan that could leave you high and dry one day.
On Twitter, just to double-down on his responses here, Buckley reiterated that Pocketpair is completely independent. "I understand that the astronomical success of Palworld has blurred the public’s perception of what Pocketpair actually is, but we are, in fact, still 100% self-owned and more importantly, 100% self-funded," he states.
"So our entire decision-making process is still simply, 'but is it fun?'," he finishes. Well, it's clearly working.
