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

When Pocketpair's monster capturing survival adventure, Palworld, was launched, it quickly drew comparisons to the iconic Pokemon series, often being dubbed "Pokemon with guns." Despite Pocketpair's communications director, John 'Bucky' Buckley, expressing that the studio isn't particularly fond of this comparison, the allure of collecting and commanding a group of charming creatures has sparked curiosity about the game's potential release on the Nintendo Switch, the favored platform for Pokemon enthusiasts.

However, Buckley has dashed hopes of a Switch release for Palworld, citing technical constraints. "If we could make the game work on the Switch, we would, but Palworld is a beefy game," he stated. During the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, following his talk titled 'Community Management Summit: A Palworld Roller Coaster: Surviving the Drop,' Buckley elaborated on the matter. When asked about the possibility of a Nintendo Switch 2 release, he mentioned Pocketpair's interest but highlighted their current lack of access to the new console's specifications. "We haven't seen those specs yet," Buckley said. "Like everyone else, we're waiting. I'm walking around GDC hoping someone will tell me them, but everyone I've spoken to says they haven't even seen them."

Buckley expressed optimism about the potential for Palworld on future handhelds, citing successful optimizations made for the Steam Deck. "If it's beefy enough, it's 100% worth considering. We did a lot of optimization for Steam Deck, which we were really happy with. Still work to do, but we're really happy with how it turned out. So we would like to get it on more handhelds if possible," he noted.

Amidst these technical discussions, Pocketpair is also navigating a lawsuit from Nintendo regarding alleged patent infringements related to Pokemon's ball-throwing mechanics. This legal battle has led some to speculate that it might be the true barrier to a Switch release. However, Buckley clarified during his GDC talk that the lawsuit, while unexpected and disheartening for the team, isn't the primary reason for not releasing Palworld on Nintendo's platforms. He recounted the somber mood at Pocketpair following the lawsuit news, "Pretty much everyone at Pocketpair is a huge fan [of Pokemon]," Buckley said, "so it was a very depressing day, everyone heads down and walking in the rain."

The lingering question is whether Nintendo would greenlight a game like Palworld for its next-generation console, given the ongoing legal disputes. As we await further developments, our full interview with Buckley from GDC will be available later this week, providing more insights into Palworld's future. In the meantime, now is a perfect opportunity to dive back into Palworld, especially with the recent update introducing cross-platform play.