Palworld publishing boss says ‘I haven’t really touched so-called AAA titles’, adding that they tend to be ‘overwhelmingly about graphic quality and fidelity’

When it’s not equipping little critters with assault rifles or fending off lawsuits for those critters’ resemblance to Pokémon, Palworld studio Pocketpair is stepping in to publish small-scale indies. It’s got a host of upcoming games on the docket, such as pixelated fishing game Normal Fishing and the Hollow Knight-esque Never Grave. The studio’s publishing manager, John Buckley, said that’s no coincidence—indie games are his foremost passion.

As he said in an interview with 4gamer, translated by Gamesradar: “Indie games have so many interesting mechanics and different styles of gameplay … I think AAA titles are overwhelmingly about graphic quality and fidelity, and that’s great. But I personally don’t have much interest in their gameplay mechanics. On the other hand, recent indie games are incredibly unique, and often include the kind of systems you can’t find in other games.”