With the surprise move by the developer behind Palworld to open a new publishing arm of the company proving so popular, one poor developer is lamenting that he may be a little busier than he originally thought he would be.
Despite being founded in 2015, it wasn't until early last year that Pocketpair became a household name with the huge success of Palworld. And as the game has proven to be extremely popular, racking up over 25 million players just a month after its release, the studio decided to put those funds to good use and opened Pocketpair Publishing to provide funding and editorial support to independent developers.
Understandably, this is a big opportunity for smaller developers, as the publisher's communications director and publishing manager John Buckley (better known to many as Bucky) discovered almost immediately.
On Twitter, he posted two screenshots taken 15 hours after Pocketpair Publishing's announcement, showing that he had already received 68 emails from potential developers, as well as a whopping 1,577 invitations on LinkedIn. “My inboxes were 0 before that,” he explains, “I think I might have underestimated the interest there would be.”
We announced Pocketpair Publishing 15 hours ago… My inboxes were 0 before… I think I might have underestimated the interest there would be pic.twitter.com/MCal1HuAUg January 24, 2025
Despite the mountain of work ahead of him, Bucky is clearly passionate about the project and states that Pocketpair is there to help the developers where needed, but that how the game is developed is up to them, stating with total naturalness. that is
“If you want help with marketing or something, we'll help you, but otherwise do whatever you want. We're giving developers the financial freedom to make the games they want so they DON'T have to be involved with stinking rule makers and bullies.” “he concludes. The first and so far only game confirmed by Pocketpair Publishing is a title from Abubakar Salim's Surgent Studios, the developer behind 2024's Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, although it's clear there's plenty more to come.
If you're looking for more of that Palworld experience, check out the best survival games you can play right now.