Pocketpair, the studio behind Palworld

The games

• Craftopia — the studio’s first survival game, still in development alongside Palworld.
• Palworld — early access January 2024; version 1.0 shipped 10 July 2026, the date recorded in the game’s own release notes.
• Palworld: Palfarm — an announced farming spin-off in the Palworld universe, multiplayer, announced for Steam with release expected in 2026. Announced alongside a Palworld crossover with ULTRAKILL. Palworld itself already contains the Terraria collaboration Pals, which are in the game files and documented here.
• Palworld Official Card Game — a physical TCG by Bushiroad, released worldwide 30 July 2026. Covered separately.

The AI question

Palworld has been accused since launch of using generative AI for its creature designs. Pocketpair’s position, stated repeatedly and on the record: the game was made by humans, without generative AI. The studio’s publishing arm has gone further, saying it will not publish games that use generative AI, Web3 or NFTs, and communications lead John “Bucky” Buckley has put the reason plainly — “gamers don’t want it”. Those are the studio’s statements; readers can weigh them, but no credible evidence of generative-AI asset use has been produced, and the accusation predates most of the tools it assumes.

The Nintendo case

Nintendo and The Pokémon Company sued Pocketpair in September 2024 over three gameplay patents. The claims have since been narrowed to pre-patch versions of the game and the court’s opinion is expected in November 2026 — the full dated timeline is here.