A year ago, Pocketpair was a budding developer who madea global phenomenon despite having minimal experiencein game development.
The Japanese company has been candid about its adventures during the creationofPalworld, with fun tidbits like going through troves of USB drives daily to copy the full game until they learned about less arcane version control.
After a busy year that has seenPalworldtop global charts andget sued by Nintendo in the process, Pocketpair has moved onto the publishing world.
The division, aptly namedPocketpair Publishing, already has a debut title in the works. This will bea horror game by Surgent Studios.
The relatively unknown developer has a single title to its name, published by Electronic Arts.Tales of Kenzera: ZAUis hardly a commercial hit, but the game has a solid 81%positive score on Steam.
After going public about Pocketpair Publishing, the company’s publishing director and communications manager experienced drowning by notifications.
Asdetailed by PCGamer,‘Bucky’ received 68 emails, and over 1,500 LinkedIn notifications in the first 15 hours. Further down the thread, you’re able to see why people are interested.
Publishing For Developers, Not Investors
Staying true to Pocketpair’s chaotic good aura,the publishing boss has made the relationship between publisher and developer clear: We give you money. You make game."
This motto should be industry standard, but it has become an increasingly rare breed in the era ofgaming megacorpschasing short-terminvestor profitsover leaving any sort of artistic legacy.
Expanding on the philosophy,Pocketpair’s comms manager says they are “giving devs the financial freedom to make games they want so they DON’T have to get wrapped up with stinky rule makers and bullies.”
Palworld Returns to Steam’s Top 10 Games With Feybreak Update
Feybreak breaks the charts, carrying Palworld to 200,000 concurrent players on Steam.
This is only the beginning of Pocketpair’s publishing adventure, but the company’s commitment to giving the developers leverage is laudable.
Time will tell whether this hands-off publishing approach pays off, and if there will be comical learning experiences like the ones the company experienced whenputtingPalworldtogether.
Regardless of the outcome,Pocketpair deserves some love for trying to give game developers the freedom to make the games they want to makein a world that’s become increasingly restrictive.
Palworld Dev Gifts Players An Early Access Roadmap For The Game’s Anniversary
Pocketpair pulled through to keep the new global phenomenon on the rise.
