Pocketpair Publishing makes its stance clear on the rise of AI-generated games.
Pocketpair, the studio behind Palworld, launched its own publishing division earlier this year with a simple goal: help developers bring their dream projects to life. “We want to give you money, and we want to help you make a fun game,” the company said when announcing Pocketpair Publishing.
But there’s one big condition: no AI-generated are games allowed.
In an interview with Game Developer at Gamescom Asia, Pocketpair communications director and publishing manager John Buckley made the studio’s stance crystal clear. “People are going to say I'm lying, but these are just the hard facts. We don't believe in it,” he said.
“We're very upfront about it. If you're big on AI stuff or your game is Web3 or uses NFTs, there are lots of publishers out there [who'll talk to you], but we're not the right partner for that.”
Pocketpair says “an authenticity market is coming”
Buckley believes the games industry is on the verge of what he calls an “authenticity market,” a shift where both developers and players push back against low-effort, AI-made titles.
“I think over the next two or three years we're going to get into this weird era, and you can see it slowly happening now on Steam, of really low quality, AI-made games,” he explained. “It's something that has plagued other stores but Steam had been good at keeping them out. But it's happening. This wave is coming, and I think we're going to enter this kind of authenticity market where people are going to slowly say ‘no, these guys are really trying to make something special’ to fight back.”
Even with that stance, Buckley knows Pocketpair isn’t immune to criticism. Palworld has faced multiple accusations of using generative AI for its Pal designs, something the studio has consistently denied.
While many major publishers like EA, Embracer Group, and Microsoft continue to promote AI as the future, Pocketpair are standing firm on their principles. For them, video games should be driven by human imagination, not machine prompts.
AI-generated games may be flooding storefronts, but Pocketpair Publishing’s message is clear: if your project relies on generative AI instead of artistry, you’ll have to find another publisher.
