Palworld Devs Aren't Fans of the 'Pokemon With Guns' Moniker

When you think of Palworld, the immediate association for many is "Pokemon with guns," a label that has stuck since the game's initial surge in popularity. This catchy phrase, used widely across the internet and even by us at IGN, helped propel Palworld into the spotlight by merging two seemingly disparate concepts. However, according to John 'Bucky' Buckley, Pocketpair's communications director and publishing manager, this was never the intended takeaway. In fact, Buckley expressed during a talk at the Game Developers Conference that Pocketpair isn't particularly fond of this moniker.

Palworld was first revealed to the world in June 2021 at the Indie Live Expo in Japan, where it received a warm reception. However, as Western media caught wind of the game, it was quickly branded as a mix of a "certain franchise" and guns—a label that has persisted despite efforts to move away from it.

In an interview following his talk, Buckley clarified that Pokemon was never part of the original pitch for Palworld. While the development team includes fans of Pokemon, the game's concept was more aligned with ARK: Survival Evolved. Buckley explained that the team, many of whom were fans of ARK and had worked on Craftopia, aimed to expand on ARK's concepts, focusing on automation and giving each creature unique personalities and abilities. The initial trailer, however, led to the "Pokemon with guns" label, which Buckley admitted they weren't thrilled about but acknowledged its role in boosting the game's visibility.

Buckley conceded that the "Pokemon with guns" label did contribute to Palworld's success, noting humorous incidents like Dave Oshry from New Blood Interactive trademarking "Pokemonwithguns.com." Despite this, Buckley emphasized that the label doesn't accurately reflect the gameplay experience and encouraged players to try the game before forming an opinion.

Interestingly, Buckley doesn't see Pokemon as a direct competitor to Palworld, citing a lack of significant audience crossover and pointing to ARK as a more apt comparison. He also dismissed the notion of competition in the gaming industry as largely manufactured, suggesting that the real challenge is timing releases amidst a crowded market.

If Buckley could choose a different viral tagline for Palworld, he suggested something like, "Palworld: It's Kind of Like ARK if ARK Met Factorio and Happy Tree Friends." While he admits it's not as catchy, it better reflects the game's true nature.

In our full interview, Buckley and I also discussed the potential for Palworld on the Nintendo Switch 2, the possibility of Pocketpair being acquired, and more. You can read the complete discussion here.