Palworld Director Clarifies AI Controversy and Online Misunderstandings

At the recent Game Developers Conference (GDC), IGN had an in-depth discussion with John "Bucky" Buckley, communications director and publishing manager for Pocketpair, the developers behind the hit game Palworld. Buckley's talk at the conference, titled 'Community Management Summit: A Palworld Roller Coaster: Surviving the Drop,' delved into the challenges Pocketpair faced, including accusations of using generative AI and copying Pokémon models, both of which have been refuted. Buckley also touched on the unexpected patent infringement lawsuit from Nintendo, which he described as a "shock" to the studio.

Given the wealth of insights Buckley shared, IGN decided to publish the full interview. For those seeking a more concise read, links to shorter articles covering Buckley's thoughts on Palworld's potential release on Nintendo Switch 2, the game's "Pokemon with guns" label, and the possibility of Pocketpair being acquired are available.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity:

IGN: I'm going to get the really annoying one that I know you can't really answer out of the way first. You talked so, so lightly about the lawsuit in your GDC talk. Has that lawsuit made it harder for Pocketpair to move forward and update the game, having that still pending?

John Buckley: No, it hasn't made it harder to update the game or to move forward. It's just something that weighs over us constantly. It affects the company's morale more than anything else. While lawyers are involved, it hasn't impacted the development process. It's more about the morale within the company.

IGN: I was fascinated at the start of your talk when you talked about, sort of cheekily, the ‘Pokemon with guns’ moniker. I was surprised that you didn't seem to like that. Can I ask why?

Buckley: Many people think that was our goal from the start, but it wasn't. Our inspiration was more akin to ARK: Survival Evolved, with a focus on automation and unique creature personalities. The "Pokemon with guns" label emerged after our first trailer, and while it helped gain attention, it misrepresents the game's core experience. We would have preferred a description like "Palworld: It's kind of like ARK if ARK met Factorio and Happy Tree Friends."

IGN: Another thing that you brought up in the talk were the criticisms people made saying the game was AI slop. How did that impact folks internally at Pocketpair?

Buckley: It was a massive issue for us. The accusations, which are baseless, have been particularly hard on our artists, especially our Pal concept artists. The challenge is refuting these claims effectively, especially when our team prefers to remain out of the public eye. We released an art book to counter these allegations, but it didn't have the impact we hoped for.

IGN: What's your overall take on the state of, not your community specifically, but online gaming communities in general? You're talking about getting all that harassment and stuff, is social media broadly useful for you all anymore?

Buckley: Social media remains crucial for us, especially given our strong presence in Asian markets where it's integral. Online communities can be intense, and while we understand the emotional reactions, the death threats we receive are particularly disturbing and illogical. We're constantly working on the game, and these threats are disheartening. We hope for more empathy from players, recognizing that we're as invested in the game's success as they are.

IGN: Do you feel like social media is trending worse lately?

Buckley: There's a growing trend of people taking contrary stances just for the reaction. Luckily, Palworld has mostly avoided these controversies, focusing more on gameplay issues rather than political or social debates.

IGN: I thought it was really interesting in your talk that you said that the majority of the heat came from the Western audience. I guess I just assumed it would be equal across the board. Do you have any insight as to why that was?

Buckley: It's puzzling. In Japan, opinions about us are divided, but the intense feedback, including death threats, primarily came from English-speaking audiences. We focus on overseas markets with a Japanese flair, which might contribute to the varied reactions.

Palworld Screens

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IGN: So Palworld was extremely successful, and I get the sense, perhaps in a way that was maybe unexpected for you all based on your talk. Has that changed anything about how the studio runs or what your future plans are or anything else?

Buckley: It's changed our future plans, but not how the studio operates. We're hiring more developers and artists to speed up development, but our company culture remains largely unchanged. Our CEO prefers to keep the studio small, even as we've grown to 70 people.

IGN: You knew it was a good game, but you didn't know that it was going to be this big.

Buckley: A million sales for an indie game is a huge success. When you hit 10 million, it becomes surreal. We're still trying to grasp the scale of it all.

IGN: Do you anticipate that Palworld is something that Pocketpair is going to support for a really, really long time to come?

Buckley: Palworld isn't going anywhere. While we're not sure what form it will take, we're committed to it. We're also continuing to work on other projects like Craftopia and supporting new initiatives within the company.

IGN: Do you think you guys ever would get acquired?

Buckley: Our CEO would never allow it. He values independence and doing things his way. Any acquisition would be highly unlikely in the foreseeable future.

IGN: I know we talked earlier about the Palworld comparisons to a Pokemon, and that you actually feel it's more like ARK. ARK is not actively releasing brand new games every one to two years and has an anime and merch like the way Pokemon does, but Pokemon is gearing up. They've got a release this year. They're constantly doing stuff. Do you see that being competitive in any way or meaningfully impacting you all?

Buckley: I don't think the audiences overlap much. The game systems are completely different. We focus more on games like Nightingale and Enshrouded, which are more similar to Palworld. Competition in games often feels manufactured. We're more in competition with timing than with other games.

IGN: Would you ever release on the Switch?

Buckley: If we could make the game work on the Switch, we would, but Palworld is a demanding game. For the Switch 2, we're waiting to see the specs. We've done a lot of optimization for Steam Deck, so if the Switch 2 is powerful enough, it's definitely worth considering.

IGN: My big takeaway from your talk is that outside of the existing Palworld community of people who have played and enjoyed the game, you feel that Palworld is extremely misunderstood.

Buckley: Absolutely. For those who haven't played it and only know it from the drama, I recommend trying it out. We're considering a demo to give people a taste of what the game is really about. It's not what many people think it is, and we're not the scummy company some believe us to be. We've worked hard on every game, and last year was just an extraordinary time for the gaming industry.