Pocketpair Defends Its Indie Status After Palworld’s Success

Pocketpair remains an independent studio because it has no outside investors or financial backing, according to John “Bucky” Buckley, its head of publishing and communications. The company owns 100% of the studio and has funded Palworld itself.

“Many studios considered ‘indie,’ including some that have won major awards and achieved huge success, have received funding and backing from much larger companies,” Buckley wrote in a post on X. He argued that employee numbers and revenue should not determine whether a studio is independent.

Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe previously described the company as a “true indie company” that plans to continue making games independently. He also acknowledged that the studio’s size and commercial success could place it near the double-A category.

Buckley considers creative control a clearer measure of independence than a fixed staff limit. A studio can remain independent when it decides which games to make and how to develop them without another company directing those choices.

External funding does not automatically remove a studio’s indie status, Buckley added, if it does not restrict creative control. “I don’t think having a publisher or investor automatically makes a studio any less indie,” he wrote.

Pocketpair has expanded into publishing and supports other independent projects, including Windrose, Truckful and Clicky Islands. Palworld’s success has contributed to the company’s growth, and the game could reach 40 million players in 2026.

Some observers may describe Pocketpair as double-A or triple-I because of its size and revenue. Buckley’s position is that the studio remains indie because it is self-owned and has no outside entity directing its creative decisions.