In the grand tradition of Pokémon clones refusing to stay in their lane, Palworld might be coming to a screen near you—and not just the Steam Deck kind.
Pocketpair, the studio behind the Pokémon-with-guns phenomenon that terrified Nintendo’s lawyers and delighted chaos-hungry gamers, has been tight-lipped about a major upcoming project. But a recent tease from Pocketpair publishing manager Fumi has sent fans spiraling down the speculation rabbit hole once again.
“Something very exciting happened and I literally won’t be able to talk about it for like…at least a year or two…but you guys are going to be super excited about it! 👼,” Fumi wrote in an Aug 6 tweet. “Keeping the secret is gonna kill me.”
Not to mention that he clarified that it has “Literally nothing to do about the lawsuit.” That’s not just vague, not just excited. That’s big-time contract vague and exciting.
The NDA Heard Round the Subreddit
Naturally, Reddit did what Reddit does best: overanalyze. Within hours, the r/Palworld hivemind ignited. A Palworld anime? A crossover with Final Fantasy? A Digimon collab (RIP to that dream—Bandai’s got Pokémon toy money to protect)? The theory with the most traction: an animated series, possibly already in development, with a big reveal timed to coincide with the game’s eventual 1.0 release.
It’s not a stretch. WIth the “year or two” timeframe, there’s only a handful of things it could be. The in-game Terraria collab wasn’t teased like this, and didn’t take half as long to develop. Animes, on the other hand tend to take two years to develop (just look at Edgerunners for example). A new spin-off game would be a hilarious twist (since Palworld is still in Early Access), but business-wise it’s got to be an anime.
Animated tie-ins are the new cross-media cash cow, especially for IPs with merch-ready mascots and minimal lore—a blank slate with profit potential. (Arcane walked so Palworld’s Pals could fly off a cliff with a rocket launcher.)
The Case for an Anime
There’s precedent. PocketPair has already been animating videos they cal PalAnime on Youtube, so it’s hard to to see these like a pitch reel for an unhinged Netflix Original: lovingly animated creature companions living in the city or fighting guerrilla warfare in the countryside, complete with dopey comedy and cute animals.
Plus, anime is the logical next step for Pocketpair’s accidental franchise. With Palworld surpassing 25 million players across PC and Xbox since its January launch, there’s clear demand. And if the company is cooking up a long-term expansion plan for the IP (as suggested by multiple Reddit sleuths and commenters citing Sony’s rumored interest), an anime makes strategic sense: reach younger fans, create lore out of chaos, and most importantly, sell plushies.
So… Is It Happening?
Maybe. Pocketpair isn’t saying. But the studio has struck a deal under NDA, and a streaming deal would explain the delayed timeline and the excitement. Animation, especially of the international, expensive kind, takes time. One to two years sounds just about right.
And as Palworld slowly evolves from meme-fodder survival sim to a potentially enduring multimedia franchise, the writing may already be on the wall. Or storyboard.
Until then, fans will keep guessing. And Pocketpair will keep tweeting like they’re sitting on a nuclear secret.