Palworld Could Come To Switch 2 If The System Is "Beefy Enough"

Palworld, the Pokemon-like game that became very popular in 2024 and led to a lawsuit from Nintendo and The Pokemon Company, has never been released for the Nintendo Switch. But could the game make its way to the Switch 2? We don't know, but Pocketpair's communications director, John Buckley, said in an interview that technical reasons are to blame for Palworld's absence on Switch so far.

"If we could make the game work on the Switch, we would, but Palworld is a beefy game," he said in an interview with IGN.

The Switch 2 is expected to have better specs, but Buckley said Pocketpair has not "seen those specs yet" for the upcoming console.

"Like everyone else, we're waiting," he said. "If [the Switch 2 is] beefy enough, it's 100% worth considering," he said. "We did a lot of optimization for Steam Deck, which we were really happy with. Still work to do, but we're really happy with how it turned out. So we would like to get it on more handhelds if possible."

It's also an open question as to whether or not Nintendo would permit Pocketpair to release Palworld on Switch or Switch 2. Pocketpair's Overdungeon launched on Switch earlier this year amid the lawsuit against Nintendo and The Pokemon Company.

Instead of going after Palworld for its Pokemon-like creatures, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company are suing Pocketpair for patent infringement related to mechanics of throwing a ball at characters, riding characters in the game, and shooting at targets.

Nintendo and The Pokemon Company are seeking an injunction against Pocketpair and Palworld, as well as a payment of 5 million yen (which is roughly just under $33,000 USD).

Analyst Serkan Toto said Nintendo is going after Pocketpair and Palworld because Pocketpair was "copying what they are doing." Toto also noted that Nintendo was trying to "spit in their bowl" by suing Pocketpair just before Palworld came to PS5.

"I don't think that Nintendo looks at these things through an idealistic lens at all. This is just a pure, cold-blooded business," Toto said.

In other news, Palworld just got a huge new update that added, among other things, cross-play and a photo mode.