Last summer, the developer of Palworld, Pocketpair, entered into a significant agreement with Sony Music Entertainment. This partnership aims to expand the Palworld universe beyond gaming, encompassing merchandise, music, and other related products. However, this business deal sparked confusion among fans, who mistakenly believed it signaled an upcoming acquisition, particularly following earlier rumors that Pocketpair was negotiating with Microsoft for such a purpose.

Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe later clarified that the acquisition rumors were unfounded at the time, yet the discussions ignited considerable speculation among fans. The interest in a potential acquisition of Pocketpair has been fueled by Microsoft's aggressive acquisition strategy within the AA gaming sector and their reported interest in Japanese developers, alongside Sony's own series of acquisitions.

The question of whether Pocketpair will ever be acquired remains open, but the likelihood seems slim according to communications director and publishing manager John 'Bucky' Buckley. At the Game Developers Conference last month, Buckley emphasized the unlikelihood of an acquisition, stating, "Our CEO would never allow it. He'd never allow it. He'd never allow it. He would never, never allow it. He likes doing his own thing and he likes being his own boss. He doesn't like people telling him what to do."

Buckley's firm stance on the matter suggests that any potential acquisition would be highly improbable in the foreseeable future. He added, "So I would be shocked. Maybe when he's old, and he might just sell it off for money. And that would be sad, but in my lifetime, I probably won't see it. No, it'll be interesting to see where the two paths go. We, Pocketpair, are obviously only involved in where the game path is going. Palworld as an IP, we are involved, but it’s very much in the hands of Aniplex and Sony Music who are steering that ship right now. We are just offering our advice and thoughts as they take that."

In addition to discussing the acquisition rumors, Buckley also touched on the possibility of Palworld being released on the Nintendo Switch 2, the studio’s response to the game being dubbed "Pokemon with guns," and other topics during our interview. For more insights, you can read the full discussion [ttpp].