PlayStation eyeing up Palworld, head of indies Shuhei Yoshida suggests
For the Pals.
PlayStation head of indies Shuhei Yoshida has suggested Palworld could be on its way to PlayStation.
Yoshida responded to the official Palworld account on X (formerly Twitter) to congratulate the team on its huge success. When a fan requested a PS5 version be released as soon as possible, Yoshida replied with a simple "yes" and tagged Jingwen Zhu, PlayStation's partner development executive for China and Japan, in the post.
So does this mean Palworld could be on its way to PlayStation?
In a 2023 thread, Palworld's community manager stated the game won't be on PlayStation, but Xbox and Steam only.
This has since been clarified, as spotted by PlayStation Lifestyle, suggesting it could still come to PlayStation in future. "The above post said Palworld may release on PS4, PS5, Xbox or PC," reads the post. "I replied that it won't be on PlayStation, which was and still is currently true, and that it would be only on Xbox and Steam. Also still currently true.
"This was by no means a statement that Palworld will never come to PlayStation. Please don't twist my words to perpetuate silly arguments."
Further, an FAQ on Steam for the game from studio Pocketpair also questions if the game will come to PS5. "We don't have plans for this at the moment, but will consider it during development," reads the response.
It wouldn't be a surprise if PlayStation was eyeing up Palworld considering its phenomenal success so far. Already, the game has passed 6m copies sold since its launch last week - and that's just on PC and Xbox. Further, that number doesn't include players on Game Pass.
Nintendo, meanwhile, is yet to comment on Palworld and the perceived similarities with Pokémon.
The Pokémon Company's former chief legal officer Don McGowan described the game as "the usual ripoff nonsense" and said he is "surprised" Palworld has "got this far".
Nintendo has already removed videos of an in-development Pokémon mod for Palworld, due to copyright infringement.