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

When Pocketpair's monster capturing survival adventure, Palworld, was released, it drew numerous comparisons to the iconic Pokemon series, often being dubbed "Pokemon with guns." While Pocketpair's communications director, John 'Bucky' Buckley, isn't thrilled with this comparison, the concept of collecting adorable monsters has sparked interest among fans, leading many to wonder if Palworld might make its way to the Nintendo Switch.

Unfortunately, Buckley has confirmed that a Switch release is unlikely due to technical constraints. "If we could make the game work on the Switch, we would, but Palworld is a beefy game," he explained.

At 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 possibility of a Nintendo Switch 2 release with him. Buckley expressed interest but noted that the feasibility of a port remains uncertain as they have yet to see the specs for the new console. "We haven't seen those specs yet," he mentioned. "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."

He added, "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."

Amidst these technical considerations, Pocketpair is also entangled in a lawsuit from Nintendo over alleged patent infringement concerning Pokemon's ball-throwing mechanics. This has led some to speculate that legal issues might be the true barrier to a Switch release. However, Buckley clarified during his GDC talk that the lawsuit wasn't the primary reason for not releasing on Nintendo's platforms. He mentioned that the team was taken aback by the lawsuit, despite conducting extensive legal checks before the game's launch. "Pretty much everyone at Pocketpair is a huge fan [of Pokemon]," Buckley shared, "so it was a very depressing day, everyone heads down and walking in the rain."

The question remains whether Nintendo would permit a game they've legally challenged onto their next-generation console.

Our full interview with Buckley from GDC will be available later this week, so stay tuned for more insights into Palworld. In the meantime, it's a great opportunity to return to the game, especially with the recent addition of cross-platform play in its latest update.