Summary
The Pocketpair communications director has admitted the team doesn’t likePalworldbeing described as “Pokemonwith guns.” Since its release, players haven’t been able to avoid drawing comparisons betweenPalworldandPokemon, due to the look of its creatures and the monster-taming mechanic—though Pocketpair isn’t really fond of the comparison.
Palworldwas a surprising success in 2024, with the game reaching over 32 million players across various platforms by February 2025. In the game, players must battle, capture, and utilize “Pals” for different tasks such as base building, combat, and exploration. Although its mechanics and visuals may resemble elements of the widelypopularPokemonfranchise,Palworldsets itself apart with the introduction of firearms, allowing both Pals and players to fight using these kinds of weapons. These elements have led the community to refer toPalworldas “Pokemonwith guns,” a label Pocketpair isn’t too happy about.
As reported byIGN, during the Game Developers Conference in March 2025, Pocketpair’s communications director and publishing manager, John Buckley, opened up about the team’s stance on the popular description labelingPalworldas justPokemonwith guns. As Buckley recalled, following the game’s reveal in June 2021, the audience responded very positively—though it was “very quickly branded” that way. The director admitted that although the team has made incredible efforts to “shake that off,” the label still lingers, and the team is not “super happy about it.”
Palworld Developer Isn’t Happy About the ‘Pokemon with Guns’ Description
Later, Buckley told IGN where the inspiration forPalworldactually came from, revealing that the studio tried to implement some ideas fromARK. Buckley explained that one of the things Pocketpair liked was howARKplaces a strong emphasis on dinosaurs—and that was exactly what the studio wanted to do, but with a twist. The director aimed to create creatures with “more personality, more abilities, more uniqueness.” However, despite the game’s actual inspiration, once the firstPalworldtrailer was released, the reviews immediately dubbed it “Pokemonwith guns.”
Even though Pocketpair isn’t happy about the description, Buckley admitted that the label did helpmakePalworldvery popular. He also commented that he doesn’t mind fans referring to the game that way, admitting that what the team does dislike is when people actually believe that’s all the game is. He encouraged players to give it a try to see thatPalworldhas much more to offer. For those who haven’t played it yet, the game is available on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation, with the door still open for a potential port to the upcoming Switch 2.
