Pocketpair is in the midst of transitioning from being simply known as the developer behind ‘Palworld’ to becoming a recognized game publisher, a move they’ve been quietly orchestrating for several months. The company has subtly introduced its upcoming titles.
Earlier this year, Pocketpair Publishing made headlines by going public and announcing its initial partnership with Surgent Studios, the indie creators of the underappreciated Metroidvania, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU. They are currently collaborating on a new horror title, leveraging the financial success of Palworld.
Although the division has yet to formally announce a specific game, communications director and publishing manager, John ‘Bucky’ Buckley, revealed that they “secretly” showcased one of their signed projects at the Game Developer’s Conference this past month without disclosing its involvement or displaying any Pocketpair branding.
“We haven’t put our name anywhere on it, just to kind of see the reaction,” Buckley shared. “And it’s been very, very positive, so we’re excited to finally say, ‘hey, that was us’.”
John ‘Bucky’ Buckley
This isn’t the only project Pocketpair Publishing has been quietly developing; they have been actively signing new titles in secrecy since at least last summer.
Buckley elaborated, “The game we have here is definitely nothing like anything we’ve been involved in before. The game that we’ve announced with Surgent Studios is a very weird little horror game. It’s not a big game. It’s quite a small little, short, horror experience kind of thing that I think will really surprise people. I think people will be surprised by the type of game it is, and also the quality of the game. I think it’s going to start a conversation about, ‘hey, cool games can get made relatively cheap if you want to.’ But they’re nothing like anything we’ve done before. Hopefully that will set the tone.”
Anticipation is building for Pocketpair Publishing’s upcoming titles, as Buckley recently expressed his feelings of “nervousness” regarding their forthcoming announcements.
Palworld isn’t coming to the Switch as the open-world survival hit is a “beefy game,” but Pocketpair says Switch 2 is “100% worth considering.”