Palworld's Communications Director Clarifies AI Controversy, Online Challenges, and Misconceptions

At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) last month, we had the opportunity to sit down with John "Bucky" Buckley, the communications director and publishing manager for Pocketpair, the developers behind the popular game Palworld. Our conversation followed Buckley's insightful talk at the conference titled 'Community Management Summit: A Palworld Roller Coaster: Surviving the Drop,' where he candidly discussed the challenges Palworld faced, including accusations of using generative AI and stealing Pokémon's models for their Pals. These claims have since been debunked and retracted. Buckley also touched on Nintendo's patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair, which he described as a "shock" to the studio and something they hadn't anticipated.

Given the depth of our discussion, we've decided to share the full extended interview here, although we've also covered some highlights in shorter articles. For those interested, you can find more on Buckley's thoughts about the potential for Palworld on the Nintendo Switch 2, the studio's reaction to being labeled "Pokémon with guns," and the possibility of Pocketpair being acquired.

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 all the time. It affects the company's morale more than anything else. Lawyers have to be hired, of course, but that's primarily handled by our top executives. It's not impacting our day-to-day development.

IGN: Real conversation time. I was fascinated at the start of your talk when you talked about, sort of cheekily, the ‘Pokémon 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 aim was to create something like ARK: Survival Evolved, with more automation and unique creature personalities. We wanted to build on our previous game, Craftopia, and make something bigger and more engaging. The 'Pokémon with guns' label came after our first trailer, and while it wasn't our favorite, it's what people latched onto.

IGN: You said in the talk that you didn't understand why Palworld took off the way it did, you couldn't explain it. And I'm not a market analyst, so I certainly couldn't tell you, but I do feel like I specifically remember when "Pokémon with guns" came into the conversation.

Buckley: Yes, that definitely played a big role. It fueled the fire, and while we're fine with people using that phrase, it's frustrating when people believe that's what the game actually is without playing it. We'd prefer if everyone gave it a chance first.

IGN: Well, how would you have phrased it? What would've been your "moniker" for this?

Buckley: I might have called it, “Palworld: It's kind of like ARK if ARK met Factorio and Happy Tree Friends.” It's not as catchy, though, and maybe that's why it didn't catch on.

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 had a massive impact, especially on our artists. It's upsetting, particularly for our Pal concept artists who've been with us since day one. We've tried to refute these claims, including releasing an art book, but it's been challenging. Our artists, many of whom are female, prefer to stay out of the public eye, which makes it harder to address these accusations directly.

IGN: We are having this industry-wide conversation about generative AI and generative AI art, and people think that they're really good at spotting it, and you can't always. If something has seven weird fingers, it's probably pretty obvious, but less so in other cases, right?

Buckley: A lot of the arguments against us are based on comments our CEO made years ago, before generative AI became widespread. Additionally, a game we developed called AI: Art Imposter was misinterpreted as our endorsement of AI art, when it was meant to be a playful social deduction game. It's been a challenge to clarify our stance on this.

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 is crucial for us, especially since our primary market is in Asia where it's a vital part of the gaming culture. Online gaming communities can be intense, and while we understand the emotional responses, the death threats are particularly troubling and illogical. We work long hours on the game, and it's disheartening to receive such extreme reactions.

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

Buckley: There's a trend of people saying the opposite just to get a reaction, which is encouraged by social media algorithms. Fortunately, Palworld has mostly avoided these issues and instead faces more constructive feedback about gameplay.

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: We're a bit divisive in Japan, but we focus on the overseas market with a Japanese flair. This approach might be why we receive more criticism from the West. The intense reactions, including death threats, were mostly in English.

Palworld Screens

17 Images

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 the studio's core culture. We're hiring more developers and artists to speed up development, but we're still a relatively small team at 70 people. The success was unexpected, and it's been a surreal experience.

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 achievement, but when you reach tens of millions, it becomes surreal. It's hard to grasp the scale, and it changes how you operate.

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

Buckley: Palworld is definitely here to stay, though in what form, we're not sure yet. We're also working on other projects like Craftopia and supporting our developers' personal projects. Palworld has split into the game and the IP, with different trajectories.

IGN: Yeah. You talked about that partnership that everybody misunderstood.

Buckley: Yes, it's often misunderstood. We're not owned by Sony, despite what some might think. Our CEO would never allow the studio to be acquired; he values our independence.

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

Buckley: No, our CEO would never allow it. He enjoys being his own boss and doing things his way.

IGN: I know we talked earlier about the Palworld comparisons to a Pokémon, 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 Pokémon does, but Pokémon 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 cross over that much, and the systems are completely different. We don't consider Pokémon as competition. We're more focused on other survival games like Nightingale and Enshrouded. Competition in games is often manufactured for marketing, and we're more concerned with timing our releases.

IGN: Would you ever release on the Switch?

Buckley: If we could make the game work on the Switch, we would, but it's a beefy game. For the Switch 2, we're waiting to see the specs. We've optimized for the Steam Deck, so we're open to more handheld platforms if possible.

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: Yes, 100%.

IGN: What is your singular takeaway message for people who have not played it and you think misunderstand it?

Buckley: I think a lot of people who only know Palworld from the drama and news completely misunderstand what the game is. I'd recommend they play it. We're considering a demo to give people a taste of what it's really like. It's not as controversial as it's made out to be. We're a dedicated team that values our developers' privacy, which might have contributed to some misconceptions.

IGN: That’s also just the way the internet works. Whatever other things there are to do in Palworld, what’s funny is a meme video of what is effectively distilled down to Pokémon with guns. So that's what everyone's sharing.

Buckley: We're a nice little company that's done well with every game we've made. Last year was a crazy year for games, and I think people were swept up in the excitement. We hope to continue doing well and providing fun experiences for our players.