Palworld Developer Pocketpair announced on Tuesday Palworld Entertainment, a brand new company formed jointly with Sony Music Entertainment and its anime subsidiary Aniplex. Palworld Entertainment was established “with the aim of accelerating Palworld’s multifaceted global development and its further expansion,” According to a post by the official Palworld X-Account.
On the Palworld Entertainment website, the company is described as responsible for “national and international licensing” for Palworld and expand its intellectual property. Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe will also lead the new company. The first initiative will be to launch new merchandise that will be sold on the Aniplex website. according to press release.
Before we get into what this deal could do, let’s talk about what this deal is not: This does not necessarily mean Palworld is coming soon to PlayStation consoles. A Palworld Community manager teased something with PlayStation in June, a post about X that many interpreted as meaning Palworld for PlayStation consoles. While it is likely that Palworld for PlayStation 5 is not part of this announcement or partnership.
What we Do What is known is that Palworld Entertainment will launch new merchandise, but it is not yet known what an expansion of its intellectual property might look like. Despite the name, Sony Music Entertainment doesn’t just make music. It also owns Aniplex (named as part of the joint venture), a Japanese entertainment and media company that specializes in anime. Aniplex has produced countless popular anime, including Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no YaibaCells at work!, And Fullmetal AlchemistIn addition to Sony Pictures Entertainment, the company also owns the anime distribution platform Crunchyroll And publishes video games such as free-to-play mobile games Fate/Grand Order.
Does that mean Palworld could it be made into an anime series or a movie? Maybe! Aniplex has experience in adapting games into anime: The company has produced anime based on Persona, Fate/Grand Orderand Ace Attorney, among others. Polygon has asked Pocketpair for more information.
Palworld has struggled to shake off the Pokémon comparisons – it is often described as “Pokémon with weapons” – and this deal is likely to reinforce the similarities even further. The Pokémon Company has had great success with Pokémon as a global franchise beyond games: everyone knows Pikachu. But who wouldn’t want their brand to go down that path? Very few brands have even been able to compete with Pokémon, and if anyone is going to do it, it’s probably Palworld: Palworld sold 25 million copies across platforms by February, just a month after its release. Pocketpair hasn’t released sales figures since then, but the game’s success has continued – especially after the latest update released last week.
