Palworld Developer Will Bring Game to Switch 2 if Console is Powerful Enough – Communications Director

John Buckley, communications director at Pocketpair, has hinted at a possibility of porting the game “Palworld” onto the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2. Despite the ongoing legal disputes between Pocketpair and Nintendo, the studio may explore the option of bringing “Palworld” to the Switch 2, provided that the console possesses sufficient power to run the game smoothly.

During an interview with IGN at the Game Developer‘s Conference 2025, Buckley shared that the main reason for not releasing Palworld on the original Nintendo Switch was due to technical limitations. Describing Palworld as a resource-intensive game, Buckley expressed a desire to make the game compatible with the Switch if they could manage it.

Later, Buckley discussed the possibility of launching the game “Palworld” on the Switch 2. Nevertheless, the studio has not received the development hardware for the upcoming console as of now. As a result, Pocketpair is uncertain if the Switch 2 has the capacity to run “Palworld“.

Buckley mentioned that we haven’t caught a glimpse of those specs so far,” he shared. “Just like everyone else, we’re keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for some insights. As I roam around GDC, I’ve been inquiring about them from various people, but all I hear is that no one has actually seen them yet.

Buckley points out that the team worked hard to optimize Palworld for smooth performance on the Steam Deck. Yet, even with these improvements, it’s essential that the device itself possesses sufficient power to run the game effectively from the get-go.

Buckley stated, “If it’s robustly beefy, it’s definitely worth considering.” He added that they put in a great deal of effort to optimize Steam Deck, which they were pleased with. However, there is still work to be done. But overall, they are satisfied with the outcome. If feasible, they would like to make it available on more handheld devices.

At GDC 2025 this month, Buckley discussed not only the talk but also the unexpected success of Palworld. The studio had initially believed it would cater to a specific Japanese market, but it amassed over a million wishlists in just the first year following its unveiling, surprising even them.

Upon the game’s release, I found myself expressing that our team had barely a moment to savor the triumph before we were drawn back into the fray. The game faced numerous network problems on its debut day, necessitating an immediate return to work for us to address these issues.

In an interesting twist, Buckley shared that a significant portion of our company operated remotely during that period. Although we had an office, most team members rarely visited. However, everyone would show up on launch day for a small celebration with some refreshments. The game was released, followed by drinks from the vending machine. Approximately 20 minutes later, our network engineer, who happened to be the only one, announced that the game had crashed and the Epic servers were down. That’s when things began to take an unusual turn.

As a die-hard fan, I can confidently say that the success of Palworld has been nothing short of phenomenal! Just a few months back in February, Pocketpair announced that an astounding 32 million players had given this game a spin across all available platforms. It’s accessible on PC, PS5, Xbox One, and even the newer Xbox Series X/S. If you’re curious about what makes Palworld so captivating, I highly recommend checking out our review for a deeper dive into its unique charm.

2025-03-24 18:43

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