Palworld Director: Switch 2 Version Worth Considering if 'Beefy Enough'

When Pocketpair's monster capturing survival adventure Palworld launched, many drew parallels to Pokémon, dubbing it "Pokémon with guns." Although Pocketpair's communications director, John 'Bucky' Buckley, isn't thrilled with the comparison, the allure of collecting adorable monsters has sparked interest in whether Palworld might ever grace the Nintendo Switch. Unfortunately, Buckley revealed that a Switch release is unlikely due to technical constraints, stating, "Palworld is a beefy game," and that if they could make it work on the Switch, they would.

During the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, following Buckley's talk titled 'Community Management Summit: A Palworld Roller Coaster: Surviving the Drop,' I had the chance to discuss the potential of a Nintendo Switch 2 release. Buckley expressed interest but noted that they haven't seen the specs for the new console yet. He humorously mentioned walking around GDC hoping someone would share them, but so far, no luck. He added that if the Switch 2 is powerful enough, it's certainly worth considering, especially given their successful optimization for the Steam Deck, which they're eager to replicate on more handhelds.

Amidst these discussions, Pocketpair is also dealing with a lawsuit from Nintendo over alleged patent infringement related to Pokémon's ball-throwing mechanics. This has led to speculation that the lawsuit might be the real reason Palworld hasn't appeared on the Switch. However, Buckley clarified that the lawsuit isn't the barrier to releasing on Nintendo platforms, as evidenced by their actions in January. In his GDC talk, he briefly touched on the lawsuit, expressing the team's surprise and disappointment, especially since they are huge Pokémon fans and had taken numerous legal precautions beforehand.

The question remains: would Nintendo allow a game it's taken such issue with on its next-gen console? We'll be sharing our full interview with Buckley later this week, so keep an eye out for more insights on Palworld. In the meantime, it's a great opportunity to revisit Palworld, especially with the recent update introducing cross-platform play.