Palworld Communications Director Speaks on Generative AI Controversy, Online Struggles, and Why Palworld Is Misunderstood

At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) past month, we sat down for an extended speech with John “Bucky” Buckley, communications manager and publishing manager for Palworld developer Pocketpair.

We spoke pursuing his speech astatine the conference, 'Community Management Summit: A Palworld Roller Coaster: Surviving the Drop.' During that talk, Buckley went into candid item astir a fig of Palworld’s struggles, particularly the accusations of it utilizing generative AI (which Pocketpair has since debunked beauteous soundly) and stealing Pokemon’s models for its ain Pals (a assertion that the idiosyncratic who primitively made it has since retracted). He adjacent commented a spot connected Nintendo’s patent infringement suit against the studio, saying it “came arsenic a shock” to the workplace and was “something that nary 1 adjacent considered.”

We’ve already tally a fig of shorter stories connected immoderate of the highlights of our speech with Buckley, but fixed the extent of penetration helium provided connected Pocketpair’s assemblage struggles and triumphs, we decided to people the afloat extended interrogation present arsenic well. If you’re looking for thing a spot shorter and easier to follow, you tin work astatine these links connected Buckley’s comments astir the anticipation of Palworld coming to the Nintendo Switch 2, the studio’s absorption to the crippled being called “Pokemon with guns”, and whether Pocketpair would ever beryllium acquired.

This interrogation has been lightly edited for clarity: IGN: I'm going to get the truly annoying 1 that I cognize you can't truly reply retired of the mode first. You talked so, truthful lightly astir the suit successful your GDC talk. Has that suit made it harder for Pocketpair to determination guardant and update the game, having that inactive pending?

John Buckley: No, it hasn't made it harder to update the crippled oregon to determination forward. It's conscionable benignant of thing that weighs implicit you each the time. It's thing that everyone's ever reasoning about, but it hasn't made the crippled harder to update. It hasn't affected improvement successful that regard. It's conscionable benignant of affected the company's morale much than thing else. And obviously, lawyers person to beryllium hired and worldly similar that, of course, of course, but I'm not progressive successful immoderate of that, and truly nary 1 other astatine the institution is different than the top, right? It's conscionable morale much than thing else.

Okay, existent speech time. I was fascinated astatine the commencement of your speech erstwhile you talked about, benignant of cheekily, the ‘Pokemon with guns’ moniker. I was amazed that you didn't look to similar that. Can I inquire why?

Buckley: A batch of radical don't judge america erstwhile we accidental this, but I deliberation a batch of radical deliberation that was written connected a whiteboard earlier the crippled improvement started, like, “This is the goal," but it ne'er was. We ever wanted to marque thing that was benignant of similar ARK: Survival Evolved, but with a batch much automation and with a spot much property to each of the creatures, due to the fact that a batch of america are immense ARK people, and our erstwhile game, Craftopia, benignant of has immoderate worldly successful it that we truly loved from ARK and immoderate ideas from ARK. So we wanted to conscionable instrumentality that and marque it bigger. And 1 of the things that ARK, everything's done with the dinosaurs, and the dinosaurs, immoderate of them are cute, but we wanted to springiness them much personality, much abilities, much uniqueness. So that was the pitch. The transportation was, let's marque thing similar ARK, but a batch heavier connected the automation and each creature's similar its ain precise peculiar thing.

And past we amusement that archetypal trailer, and past this rubric benignant of came out. And no, we weren't ace blessed astir it, but it is what it is.

You said successful the speech that you didn't recognize wherefore Palworld took disconnected the mode it did, you couldn't explicate it. And I'm not a marketplace analyst, truthful I surely couldn't archer you, but I bash consciousness similar I specifically retrieve erstwhile "Pokemon with guns" came into the conversation.

Buckley: Yeah. No, I mean, that was big. That was decidedly a large thing. I mean, Dave [Oshry] Dave from New Blood messaged america due to the fact that helium trademarked the website, Pokemonwithguns.com and stuff. All this benignant of worldly happened, and I'm definite that fueled that fire, which is just enough. But inactive today, 2025, if radical privation to accidental that, that's fine. But the happening that upsets us, I guess, a small spot is the radical who firmly judge that's what the crippled really is. But it's not adjacent remotely similar that to play the game. So if you privation to accidental that aft playing, that's fine, but we'd alternatively everyone springiness it a spot of a accidental first.

Well, however would you person phrased it? What would've been your "moniker" for this?

Buckley: I astir apt would've called it, “Palworld: It's benignant of similar ARK if ARK met Factorio and Happy Tree Friends, oregon thing similar that. That's however I might've said it.

It doesn't rather rotation disconnected the lingua the aforesaid way.

Buckley: No, no, it doesn't, does it? Maybe that's why.

Another happening that you brought up successful the speech were the criticisms radical made saying the crippled was AI slop. How did that interaction folks internally astatine Pocketpair?

Buckley: Massively, massively, massively, massively. That is by acold I would accidental the biggest benignant of happening that was ever against us, inactive to this day. Go to immoderate Palworld posts oregon immoderate quality nonfiction astir Palworld, oregon Reddit post, you'll spot idiosyncratic say, "I hatred this company. They usage AI," and it's implicit nonsense. It's upsetting. It's thing that upsets everyone, but astatine antithetic levels. It's the artists particularly who really, truly instrumentality it the worst, particularly our Pal conception artists. We person a fewer Pal conception artists, and 2 of them successful peculiar who've been determination since time one. They're not large fans of this benignant of stuff, but it's precise hard to antagonistic this, which we did learn. I talked astir that. The casual thought is to enactment everyone successful beforehand of a camera and person them speech astir it, but nary of our radical privation to beryllium connected camera.

Yeah, erstwhile you gave your speech you mentioned radical not wanting to beryllium ace disposable online due to the fact that the net is bad.

Buckley: Yeah, they don't privation to beryllium visible. And I'm not utilizing it arsenic an excuse, but the immense bulk of our artists are female, and successful Japan, it's not the mode to spell astir things close now. So they don't privation to beryllium connected camera, they don't privation to beryllium public, they don't privation to person their names retired there. And yeah, it's upsetting for them, inactive contiguous it's precise upsetting to perceive these things. But similar I said successful my talk, we haven't truly cracked however to decently refute this yet. We released an creation book, and it definitely, decidedly made a large impact, but not arsenic overmuch arsenic we would've hoped, perhaps.

We are having this industry-wide speech astir generative AI and generative AI art, and radical deliberation that they're truly bully astatine spotting it, and you can't always. If thing has 7 weird fingers, it's astir apt beauteous obvious, but little truthful successful different cases, right?

Buckley: A batch of the arguments for ours, I think, again, I'm evidently biased towards this, I deliberation they're beauteous hollow. I mean, it each comes from comments that our CEO made successful 2020, 2021-ish. There was a precise celebrated Kotaku post. Before GenAI truly became a thing, Kotaku made an nonfiction astir it, and our CEO commented, "Sugoi," the Japanese connection for amazing. People spot the connection amazing, and they deliberation his reaction's like, "Whoa, this is incredible. I emotion this." And I deliberation his volition was much conscionable similar a, "Look astatine this thing." I don't deliberation helium was excessively gung-ho connected it.

And then, I deliberation the happening that truly benignant of tipped it for radical is successful 2022, 2023, 2 people... So Pocketpair is what we telephone an unfastened improvement company. So you articulation Pocketpair, and past you enactment connected the crippled you privation to enactment connected alternatively than we're hiring you to specifically enactment connected this. We cheque that you tin bash the work. You articulation the company. And then, you privation to enactment connected Craftopia? Cool. You privation to enactment connected Palword? Cool. You privation to conscionable bash your ain thing? Okay, we'll fto you bash that for a play of time, and if that mightiness go something, possibly we tin assistance you marque that.

So, Never Grave, different crippled we're doing, really came from that exemplary of radical having this idea, they pursued it, and we fto them bash it. Two oregon 3 members of Pocketpair made a crippled a fewer years agone called AI: Art Imposter, which is simply a enactment game. [Author's note: AI Imposter does impact players generating AI images successful a societal deduction crippled format wherever the "imposter" isn't told the taxable of the generation.] Well, that didn't spell down the mode we thought it would spell down. I deliberation we each thought it would beryllium a funny, ironic benignant of a thing. Here's a enactment crippled wherever you're trying to drawback retired the person, but it didn't matter. People instrumentality that arsenic our declaration of "We emotion GenAI." It'll beryllium rather the opposite, but again, it is what it is. Art Imposter was fashionable successful Japan, truthful similar a batch of our games, we're blessed that determination enjoyed it.

What's your wide instrumentality connected the authorities of, not your assemblage specifically, but online gaming communities successful general? You're talking astir getting each that harassment and stuff, is societal media broadly utile for you each anymore?

Buckley: Well, societal media's large for us. Funny enough, I went to a steadfast roundtable yesterday, and it was precise divided successful the middle, actually. The aforesaid question came up. Some of america think, yes, that's the mode to go. Some radical deliberation it's not the mode to spell anymore. It's large for us. It's large for america due to the fact that we are chiefly an Asian marketplace game. All of our games person been large successful Japan and China and stuff, and these are places wherever societal media is similar radical unrecorded and respire it. You can't disregard it. Whereas implicit here, I cognize there's a spot much pushback. Online gaming communities, yeah, they tin beryllium precise aggravated sometimes. I deliberation radical get precise affectional sometimes and they get precise swept distant successful those emotions, and I recognize that. I mean, I utilized to play a batch of MMOs, a batch of PvP MMOs. That utilized to beryllium my large happening earlier I got a existent job. The communities, but I recognize that radical get swept distant successful things and you benignant of lash out, and I get that. And there's a batch of radical that lash retired astatine america that I conscionable benignant of instrumentality connected the chin. I'm like, "That's fine."

But it's each this death-threat stuff. It's erstwhile it reaches that constituent wherever you're like, "How could you beryllium this upset?" It's ne'er that serious. And it's usually precise illogical decease threats. Maybe we merchandise a spot that breaks something, and, "I'm going to termination you and enactment a weapon successful your neck." And I ever conscionable privation to say, "Do you deliberation we're not going to hole it? I mean, we'll evidently hole this, right? We didn't bash this connected purpose. We're not breaking your crippled connected purpose."

And I deliberation the large happening that a batch of radical don't sympathize with is you mightiness play a game, you mightiness play our crippled for 3 hours successful a row, and past you acquisition a captious bug, and it crashes. That's a ace frustrating experience. I 100% agree, I sympathize, I get it. But past you disconnect from it, and you spell and bash thing else. We beryllium successful that bureau for 12 hours conscionable surviving and breathing this game. It hurts america a batch much that these things happen. So, I privation radical would beryllium a spot much sympathetic to these things, that we don't similar it arsenic overmuch arsenic they similar it, and we're trying to hole these things. So, a spot of vigor is fine. Spur of the infinitesimal insults is fine. I get it. We're each people, but it's the decease threats that truly get to america the astir due to the fact that it's truthful dumb.

Do you consciousness similar societal media is trending worse lately?

Buckley: I think, particularly these days, there's a batch much radical connected societal media who conscionable accidental the other happening due to the fact that they cognize they'll get the absorption now. And it's trending a spot and there's a fewer large accounts that person go rather notorious for ever seeming to beryllium connected the other side. A caller crippled comes retired and everyone's like, "This is great." There's ever that assemblage present that go, "Nope, this is not. It's bad," for each these reasons that person thing to bash with the game, basically, always. And I deliberation that, I don't know, possibly societal media is encouraging that recently. It gets the clicks, it gets the trends. Yeah, luckily, we don't get overmuch of that. Palworld, weirdly enough, benignant of has avoided a batch of these, I don't know, I don't cognize what you say, governmental and societal stuff. We conscionable get a batch of "The game's broken" benignant of requests. That's what we get.

I thought it was truly absorbing successful your speech that you said that the bulk of the vigor came from the Western audience. I conjecture I conscionable assumed it would beryllium adjacent crossed the board. Do you person immoderate penetration arsenic to wherefore that was?

Buckley: No, no, no, no. We've tried to fig this retired too. We are rather a divisive institution successful Japan. It's a 50/50 successful Japan of whether radical emotion america oregon whether radical truly hatred us. I don't know. I deliberation not a batch of crippled companies successful Japan marque games for the overseas market. They marque a crippled for home, and past it blows up overseas, whereas we ever effort to onslaught overseas archetypal with the benignant of Japanese flair to it. And we telephone ourselves indie a lot, which a batch of Japanese gamers don't like, unfortunately. Even though we firmly judge we're indie, but yeah, that's ever contested backmost home. I don't cognize wherefore we get a batch of vigor overseas. Maybe it was conscionable casual pickings astatine that time. It's simmered down a lot. It's precise manageable now. But a batch of that, particularly the decease threats and stuff, were precise overmuch successful English. We didn't get a batch of that successful Japan oregon China.

So Palworld was highly successful, and I get the sense, possibly successful a mode that was possibly unexpected for you each based connected your talk. Has that changed thing astir however the workplace runs oregon what your aboriginal plans are oregon thing else?

Buckley: It's changed our aboriginal plans, yes. It has not changed the studio. For amended oregon worse, we stay fundamentally unchanged.

You said the assemblage squad did not get bigger successful response. Did the workplace get bigger successful different ways?

Buckley: Yeah. I mean, our server squad has grown. We're hiring much developers each the time. We're hiring much artists each the time. One of our sore points arsenic a institution is conscionable making things quicker for the fans. So we're ever trying to onboard arsenic galore developers arsenic we tin to benignant of velocity up improvement time. But the institution civilization hasn't changed that much. It's evidently bigger now, but we haven't reached that benignant of tipping constituent yet. And our CEO truly wants to debar that due to the fact that he's a precise homebody benignant of guy, truthful helium wants to support it small. I accidental small, it's 70 radical now. That's a batch of people. He doesn't privation to get into the hundreds, helium says, anyway. But no, I mean, this level of occurrence was unexpected.

You knew it was a bully game, but you didn't cognize that it was going to beryllium this big.

Buckley: I mean, a cardinal income for anyone, I deliberation you've made it. Well, sorry. I said anyone. I mean a cardinal income for an indie game. You've made it. Congratulations. You're a platinum standard. Two million? Unbelievable. You should beryllium screaming that from the roof. When you get into the 10 millions is erstwhile it conscionable gets precise surreal, and you don't truly cognize what's happening anymore. And Steam is sending you, "Here's your monthly income reports, and here's your monthly content reports," and it's conscionable numbers that don't marque sense. And past you get a bit, not reckless, but you get a spot escaped with however you walk it and thing happens. Yeah, it each gets precise weird and surreal, and it's inactive hard for america to benignant of get a grasp connected it, basically.

Do you expect that Palworld is thing that Pocketpair is going to enactment for a really, truly agelong clip to come?

Buckley: Palworld's decidedly going nowhere. What signifier Palworld's going to take, I've nary idea, but it's decidedly going to beryllium thing that we're ever sticking on. But we bash privation to benignant of spell backmost to making different stuff, too. We're inactive moving connected Craftopia. Even though everyone says we're not, we are inactive moving connected Craftopia. And there's radical astatine the institution who privation to bash their ain happening arsenic well, truthful we're trying to find ways to enactment each of that portion besides maintaining this instrumentality that is Palworld. Because Palworld's benignant of divided into 2 things now, Palworld the crippled and Palworld the IP, and they're some benignant of going connected antithetic trajectories close now.

Yeah. You talked astir that concern that everybody misunderstood.

Buckley: Yeah. No 1 understands. Someone, virtually yesterday, said to me, "Why aren't you wearing a Sony jacket?" And I said, "Because we're not owned by Sony astatine all." No, that'll beryllium everlastingly misunderstood, I think.

Do you deliberation you guys ever would get acquired?

Buckley: No. Our CEO would ne'er let it. He'd ne'er let it. He'd ne'er let it. He would never, ne'er let it. He likes doing his ain happening and helium likes being his ain boss. He doesn't similar radical telling him what to do. So I would beryllium shocked. Maybe erstwhile he's old, and helium mightiness conscionable merchantability it disconnected for money. And that would beryllium sad, but successful my lifetime, I astir apt won't spot it.

No, it'll beryllium absorbing to spot wherever the 2 paths go. We, Pocketpair, are evidently lone progressive successful wherever the crippled way is going. Palworld arsenic an IP, we've given, not given, but we are involved, but precise overmuch successful the hands of Aniplex and Sony Music who are steering that vessel close now. We are conscionable benignant of offering our proposal and thoughts arsenic they instrumentality that.

I cognize we talked earlier astir the Palworld comparisons to a Pokemon, and that you really consciousness it's much similar ARK. ARK is not actively releasing marque caller games each 1 to 2 years and has an anime and merch similar the mode Pokemon does, but Pokemon is gearing up. They've got a merchandise this year. They're perpetually doing stuff. Do you spot that being competitory successful immoderate mode oregon meaningfully impacting you all?

Buckley: I don't deliberation the audiences transverse implicit that much.

Really?

Buckley: And the systems are wholly different. I mean, the systems are wholly different.

Sure, but you each released aft Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, which radical including maine were precise captious of, and I retrieve seeing a batch of fans going, “Why can’t they conscionable bash what Pocketpair did?”

Buckley: I don't know. I deliberation a batch of that's conscionable radical trying to disturbance the cookware online. I spot immoderate of those comments each the clip and I ever think, "Come on, guys. Don't beryllium silly now." I deliberation they're conscionable stirring the pot. I mean, we don't see that arsenic immoderate benignant of competition, oregon we don't privation to beryllium progressive successful that benignant of dispute, basically. Ironically, we released alongside 2 different endurance games, and we were much focused connected them than we were anyone else, Nightingale and Enshrouded. And we precise playfully backmost and forthed it together, due to the fact that we are precise akin games much than thing else. ARK. I mean, we don't spot ARK arsenic a competitor. We emotion the ARK guys. [Studio] Wildcard are sweethearts.

I don't know. Competition successful games is, I've gotten successful occupation for ranting astir the "console wars" before, but I deliberation the contention successful games is benignant of manufactured for the involvement of it. Almost similar a meta selling benignant of strategy. I don't truly deliberation determination is contention successful games. I mean, there's truthful galore games close now. How tin you beryllium successful contention with 1 oregon two? It doesn't truly marque consciousness anymore. We're conscionable ever successful contention with benignant of the timing much than anything, I think. I mean, we propulsion a batch of telemetry and we enactment with a batch of information companies for these things. I don't know. The 1 that amazed maine the astir was a precise important information of Palworld players bought Helldivers 2 connected release. And that was a crossover that I was precise amazed about…I deliberation it's the co-op element, the benignant of goofy element, having amusive with your friends. I deliberation Steam is truly bully astatine driving those large crippled releases arsenic well. So, it's a cleanable storm, really.

Would you ever merchandise connected the Switch?

Buckley: If we could marque the crippled enactment connected the Switch, we would, but Palworld's a beefy game.

The Switch 2?

Buckley: Well, we haven't seen those specs yet, truthful we're similar everyone else, we're waiting. I mean, I'm walking astir GDC hoping idiosyncratic volition archer maine them, but everyone I've spoken to says they haven't adjacent seen them. If it's beefy enough, it's 100% worthy considering. We did a batch of optimization for Steam Deck, which we were truly blessed with. Still enactment to do, but we were precise blessed with however it turned out. So we would similar to get it connected much handhelds if possible.

My large takeaway from your speech is that extracurricular of the existing Palworld assemblage of radical who person played and enjoyed the game, you consciousness that Palworld is highly misunderstood.

Buckley: Yeah, 100%.

What is your singular takeaway connection for radical who person not played it and you deliberation misunderstand it?

Buckley: I deliberation a batch of radical who lone cognize of Palworld from the quality and the play and stuff, successful conscionable my opinion, astir apt wholly misunderstand what the crippled adjacent is. So I would accidental play it. I mean, I deliberation we should bash a demo astatine immoderate point. Something that I run for a batch internally. At immoderate constituent we should merchandise a demo oregon immoderate benignant of escaped hr oregon thing if we could fig it retired to bash it properly. But I deliberation a batch of radical who person ne'er played it and lone cognize it from the play would beryllium amazed if they played it for 1 hour.

I don't deliberation it's thing similar what they ideate it is. We are obscurity adjacent arsenic seedy and scummy arsenic radical look to deliberation we are. I deliberation it's the double-edged sword. We hid from the nationalist to support our developers, and astatine the aforesaid time, I deliberation that made america look a spot inaccessible, which makes you look atrocious inherently. If we'd person been much public, possibly we wouldn't person got that reputation. It's 2 edges to that, but we person to support our team.

That’s besides conscionable the mode the net works. Whatever different things determination are to bash successful Palworld, what’s comic is simply a meme video of what is efficaciously distilled down to Pokemon with guns. So that's what everyone's sharing.

Buckley: I mean, I deliberation we're a precise bully small company. We've done precise good for ourselves with each crippled we've ever made, and we'll continue, hopefully, to ever bash well. I deliberation past twelvemonth was conscionable specified a brainsick twelvemonth for games. I deliberation radical don't admit however brainsick past twelvemonth was. I deliberation radical volition constitute astir 2024 5 years from now. There were conscionable truthful galore unbelievably palmy games past year. [Black Myth:] Wukong, Helldivers [2], Palworld, games that conscionable deed numbers that are not normal. So I deliberation emotions were precocious past twelvemonth and radical got swept distant successful the fun, maybe.

Rebekah Valentine is simply a elder newsman for IGN. You tin find her posting connected BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a communicative tip? Send it to [email protected].