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

When Pocketpair launched their monster capturing survival adventure, Palworld, it drew significant attention, particularly for its striking resemblance to Pokemon, often being dubbed "Pokemon with guns." Despite the comparison not sitting well with Pocketpair, as noted by their communications director John 'Bucky' Buckley, the allure of collecting adorable monsters has sparked interest among fans about the possibility of Palworld making its way to the Nintendo Switch, Pokemon's preferred platform.

However, Buckley dashed those hopes, citing technical limitations as the primary barrier. "If we could make the game work on the Switch, we would, but Palworld is a beefy game," he explained. This statement was made during a conversation at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, following Buckley's talk on 'Community Management Summit: A Palworld Roller Coaster: Surviving the Drop.'

The topic of a potential release on the rumored Nintendo Switch 2 also surfaced. Buckley expressed interest but noted that without access to the new console's specifications, the feasibility remains uncertain. "We haven't seen those specs yet," he admitted. "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 further added that if the Nintendo Switch 2 proves powerful enough, Pocketpair would definitely consider porting Palworld to it. "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 discussions, Pocketpair is also navigating a lawsuit from Nintendo over alleged patent infringement related to Pokemon's ball-throwing mechanics. This has led to speculation that the legal battle might be the real reason behind Palworld's absence from the Nintendo Switch. However, Buckley clarified during his GDC talk that the lawsuit was unexpected and that the team had conducted extensive legal checks beforehand to avoid such issues. "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."

This raises the question of whether Nintendo would welcome a game it has legally contested onto its next-generation console. As we await further developments, our full interview with Buckley from GDC will be available later this week, offering more insights into Palworld's future. In the meantime, with the recent addition of cross-platform play in a new update, it's an excellent time for players to dive back into the world of Palworld.