The chief executive officer of Pocketpair, a Palworld developer, stated in a recent interview that the open-world survival game has become so lucrative that it is "too big for a studio with our size to handle."
After launching in January, Palworld quickly rose to prominence, breaking records as the largest third-party game launch ever on Xbox Game Pass in addition to Steam.
With 15 million downloads sold on Steam and 10 million gamers on Xbox, the $30 crafting and survival game "Pokémon with weapons" has amassed an astounding 25 million players to date. Note that the game isn't even fully released yet, and many people are probably waiting for the launch of Palworld Version 1.0.
Takuro Mizobe, the CEO of Pocketpair, revealed in a Bloomberg interview that Palworld was developed for less than ¥1 billion ($6.7 million) and has produced tens of billions of Yen in profit. ¥10 billion, for example, is approximately $67.2 million.
Palworld's phenomenal performance, however, hasn't motivated Mizobe to start growing the business or adding new employees despite their earlier job postings on X.
Mizobe informed the publication, "We are a small studio and always will be." "I intend to create a number of short games. Triple-A, high-budget games are not our thing”.
In spite of this, Mizobe has no intention of hiring heavily, setting up beanbags and private chefs in Silicon Valley headquarters, or offering Pocketpair shares to employees. Although he claims the studio isn't in talks with anyone right now, it will still be open to collaborations and acquisitions in the proper circumstances.
Undoubtedly, Pocketpair faces significant pressure to guarantee Palworld's sustained success in the long run. After all, a roadmap full of content, including PvP and raids, promises that the game is not a one-and-done affair. Although the first raid battle was hinted at lately, there is no release date for it.
PocketPair has been fairly active with all the patches and bug fixes, so we can expect a lot of content before the game exits Early Access.