Pocketpair lead says "apologies to all the professional Palworld haters," but "it's not really our problem" – the studio is going to continue "doing what the players want"

Pocketpair publishing head John "Bucky" Buckley says Palworld haters aren't making much of a difference when it comes to the development of the game.

GamesRadar+ asked Bucky at GDC 2026 how he would define a Pocketpair game, to which he responds, "Apologies to all the professional Pocketpair haters out there, but it's made by the players." He explains, "Over Dungeon, our very first game, what it started out as and what it ended as are very different, because of what the players wanted. Craftopia has changed so many times based on what the players wanted, and is still changing to this day based on what the players want. And Palworld – even, you know, Palworld two years ago versus Palworld now, are different."

Bucky says development of Pocketpair's games has "gone in a different way than even we imagined, because we're just doing what the players want. Pocket Pair is hyper-tuned to what our players are saying, and we're really proud of that." He adds that, even with fans dictating the direction of their games somewhat, the team is "happy to make the game they want to play. Essentially, that's what we like doing, and we'll probably keep doing it for a long time."

He also continues to acknowledge the game's detractors, saying they came in "two periods": after the game first launched, and after the lawsuit from The Pokemon Company was filed. Bucky notes that, "There's a couple accounts out there that make it their life's mission to, almost daily, go after us. But at this point, just, who cares?"

Bucky adds, "If people really feel Palworld has upset them in some way or betrayed them in some way – after all this time, it's not really our problem. At this point, it's kind of their problem, right? We'll just keep making the game we want to make and having fun with our fans."

Palworld devs are "happy to hand the IP over" to the right studio for a spin-off but draw the line at "Palworld Balatro."

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