‘The general public are kinda loopy:’ Palworld developer Pocketpair underlines the human brand of success

Envision having 32 million gamers engage with your video game. For most creators, it would signify an achievement beyond their grandest aspirations. The stuff of legends. Euphoria personified.

For Palworld developer Pocketpair, it’s an exhilarating figure that evolved into reality—bringing recognition, wealth, and (possibly unexpectedly) some decidedly “negative vibes.”

Addressing the challenges of sudden success at GDC 2025, Palworld community manager John Buckley shares that becoming a household name overnight left the studio and its team vulnerable to a barrage of hostility that compelled the company to retreat.

“Almost immediately after Palworld was released, it became incredibly popular to hate Palworld,” states Buckley. “And it wasn’t just your ordinary Twitter user chiming in—it was virtually everyone. It was individuals on Twitter. It was participants on Discord. It was several prominent industry figures, which I’m still a bit bitter about. It was a lot of LinkedIn circle-jerking. Disliking Palworld became the common trend at the time of the launch.”

“The reason for that is Palworld was a publicity-generating phenomenon. You simply opened Twitter and mentioned ‘Palworld’ and it garnered half a million views.”

Buckley notes that individuals began circulating false narratives about the project as a means to exploit the game’s triumph—and in some instances, to maliciously stir the pot.

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He refers to the rumors that spread like wildfire on social media in the initial days, when participants began asserting that Pocketpair had heavily relied on generative AI technology and even appropriated character designs from Pokémon developer Game Freak.

The latter, Buckley claims, was by far the most damaging— although he highlights that it was initiated by “some guy on Twitter” who has since deleted his posts after allegedly revealing he started the rumor due to his disdain for the “animal cruelty” present in the game.

“All of these accusations kind of swirled into this massive social media and gaming phenomenon, where you were either on one side [or the other] of this fictitious battle that was unfolding,” Buckley elaborates. “Because there was so much attention, that resulted in us receiving a plethora of very unpleasant comments and some genuinely frightening emails.”

At this point, Buckley displays a slide showcasing a selection of death threats and violent messages directed at the studio—many of which targeted the artists involved in the project.

“This is something that we truly, genuinely struggled with for a long time. This is why we went quiet and refrained from sharing numbers and silly memes. We essentially went silent for about three or four months, hoping it would subside. And it pretty much did.”

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Buckley expresses his regrets to attendees for presenting these messages, but emphasizes the importance for people to see the “truth” behind success in the video game industry.

“I think a lot of companies might have crumbled under the threats”

Almost instantaneously after that ordeal, Nintendo contributed to keeping the bad times coming by filing a lawsuit against Pocketpair for purported patent infringement. Buckley describes the crisis—which he cannot discuss in detail—as “not enjoyable.”

How did the staff learn to cope with the flood of negativity? “Gradually,” Buckley remarks, before emphasizing how essential it is for developers to detach outside of work hours.

“You have your professional time and you have your personal time. Essentially avoid making comparisons between the two. So on a small scale, we started setting timers and automatically muting applications. No Slack. No Discord. Things like that,” he continues.

“This was challenging, particularly for our players, because I and one other individual were previously the main points of contact when communicating with Pocketpair. After Palworld, we had to discontinue that flow of conversation because there was just so much coming in.”

The company also established internal channels to actively share positive feedback (from both players and industry colleagues) in order to uplift morale and counterbalance the noise of negativity. Team members were also advised to maintain a low profile to ensure they didn’t unintentionally become a target themselves.

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“Social media is really the worst,” states Buckley. “No one ought to engage with social media.”

Buckley admits that erecting these barriers means the studio may not feel as “intimate” as it once did, but he notes that the overwhelming amount of negativity some team members faced was destabilizing.

“We genuinely aimed to channel the positive aspects [towards them],” he continues. “Channel the fan art and somewhat reintroduce a positive vibe into the organization.”

Despite facing harsh criticism, Buckley asserts that Pocketpair successfully retained all its employees by cultivating a close-knit workplace culture and actively working to protect its team. “I believe many companies might have faltered under the threats, the pressure, and the negativity,” he adds.

Buckley emphasizes that the level of success from Palworld is not entirely negative and expresses that the game is still “progressing steadily,” supported by an “incredible” community.

The clear benefit is also financial. The achievement of Palworld has allowed Pocketpair to establish a publishing division to support various studios across the sector, and the company has additionally formed a partnership called Palworld Entertainment with Aniplex and Sony Music to broaden the reach of the IP.

However, Buckley clearly wants GDC attendees to remember the human aspect of that success.

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