Palworld launched in early access last year to a nearly unfathomable level of success for a relatively small studio – as well as no shortage of criticism. Communications director and publishing manager John Buckley reckons that many studios would've been crushed under the weight of that launch, but says Poketpair's work culture has held the studio together.
"Pocketpair really is a very, very friendly place," Buckley said in a recent panel at the Game Developers Conference. "It always has been an incredibly friendly company. This is just my opinion, you can disagree, but I think very few companies could survive a post-Palworld situation like we did. I think a lot of companies might crumble under the threats, under the pressure, under the negativity, but we managed to retain all our staff. We managed to push on and do what we do because we're such a close and tight knit company."
Palworld was an immediate, massive hit, selling two million copies in 24 hours and becoming just the second game in the history of Steam to reach two million concurrent players. But the game's popularity compounded with the obvious Pokemon comparisons to make it a unique target for criticism and harassment from the gaming world, not to mention accusations of using AI-generated art and that whole lawsuit from Nintendo itself.
Whatever you think of Palworld as a game, that kind of pressure certainly isn't conducive to a healthy work environment, and Buckley went on list a few "silly examples" of things the studio does to keep morale up, from pizza and sushi parties to going out for drinks. "Our CEO always gives us the day off to play big games," a fact which made headlines around the launch of Monster Hunter Wilds. "For some reason that's newsworthy," Buckley says. "I don't think it is." But when you're working on a game as successful as Palworld, it's tough not to make headlines.
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