If you are hoping to see Palworld move over to Nintendo’s consoles on the Switch 2’s release, well developer Pocketpair would absolutely consider it. That’s even despite the studio’s legal dispute with Nintendo.
Speaking with IGN at GDC, Pocketpair’s communications director John ‘Bucky’ Buckley revealed the team would have happily seen its monster-catching survival game on the OG Switch as well, but due to how “beefy” Palworld is, it wasn’t able to find a home on Nintendo’s console.
This may change for Switch 2, though, providing the next generation of Nintendo’s consoles has the ability to handle the chonky game.
When asked about Palworld releasing on Switch 2, Bucky said the developer doesn’t know the hardware specs yet. “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,” Bucky said.
He added that should the specs be “beefy enough” for Palworld, then “it’s 100 percent worth considering” a Switch 2 release.
“We did a lot of optimisation for Steam Deck, which we were really happy with,” Pocketpair’s communications director continued. “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.”
So, stay tuned! As for when we may hear more about those mysterious Switch 2 specs, Nintendo has a dedicated showcase for its upcoming console scheduled for next week.
Ever since Palworld was first revealed, comparisons were made between Pocketpair’s own monster-catching title and Pokémon. In fact, Palworld was dubbed ‘Pokémon with guns’ ahead of its early access release last year, and soon after its debut The Pokémon Company’s former chief legal officer Don McGowan said he was “surprised” the game had “got this far”.
In September, Nintendo announced it was suing Pocketpair for infringement of “multiple” patents, and it was later confirmed the lawsuit was targeting three patents in particular. As part of an update in December, Pocketpair subsequently removed the ability to summon creatures by throwing Pokéball-style Pal Spheres.
Despite this, Pocketpair has released a game on Nintendo Switch. In January of this year, the developer’s real-time roguelike deck builder Overdungeon arrived on the Switch store in Japan, having previously been available via Steam.