Pocketpair has announced that it has signed a deal with Sony, as well as the company's subsidiary Aniplex, in order to expand open-world survival-crafter Palworld beyond the realm of video games.
The joint venture between Pocketpair and Sony was announced via a post on X (formerly Twitter) earlier today. It bears the imaginative name of Palworld Entertainment, and it's been established for "the purpose of accelerating the multifaceted global development of Palworld and its further expansion". That's a mouthful.
In a followup message, Pocketpair reveals that the first fruits of its Aniplex partnership are already on the way; soon, Palworld merchandise will be up for grabs on the official Aniplex site, although the studios haven't revealed what kind of Palworld merch you can look forward to yet.
We don't yet know exactly what the deal between Pocketpair and Sony will yield, but given that Aniplex is involved, it's safe to assume we'll be getting some sort of Palworld anime or animated adaptation.
Technically, Pocketpair's deal is with Sony Music Japan, but it's worth noting that Sony Music does have its fingers in some gaming pies; Aniplex publishes the mobile game Fate/Grand Order, as well as games like Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Sweep the Board and The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy in Japan.
As such, a partnership with Sony Music doesn't necessarily mean we're in for Palworld: The Album, as much as I'd pay to hear that.
It's also worth noting that although no official Palworld PS5 version has been announced, it looks that much more likely now thanks to this deal with Sony.
If you've missed out on the Palworld hype, it's an open-world survival-crafting game that takes strong influence from Pokemon in its creature-collecting aspect, as well as games like Ark: Survival Evolved.
The game launched back in January and quickly gained immense popularity, rocketing up the Steam charts in the weeks after its release. Developer Pocketpair has also released a number of updates for Palworld, adding features like new Pals, a new island, and more.
You can check out Palworld right now on PC via Steam, and it's also available on Xbox. If you're a Game Pass subscriber, you'll be pleased to know it's included with your subscription.
