The Game Business Show Palworld maker: We’ll keep funding games even if our current projects crash and burn
Jan 20, 2026
John "Bucky" Buckley, the publishing and community lead at Pocket Pair, shares insights into their tumultuous journey into game publishing. He reveals how the social noise around Palworld taught the team resilience and the importance of tuning out distractions. John discusses their innovative team culture that encourages experimentation and flexible hiring. Learn about their bold commitment to support indie games, the criteria for selecting projects, and the challenges of handling player feedback. Buckley's dedication to sustainable funding for indie developers shines through!
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Ignore The Noise, Focus On The Game
- Palworld drew massive attention that often focused on controversy rather than the game itself.
- John Buckley says the team learned to tune out noise and focus on making the game for fans.
Fluid Staffing Spurs Speed And Ideas
- Pocket Pair uses a fluid staffing model that allows people to move between projects and tinker on prototypes.
- Buckley credits this flexibility for faster execution and internal idea generation.
Built A Bug Pipeline Under Pressure
- After Palworld's surge the studio faced an avalanche of player bug reports and industry inquiries.
- They built integrated forums and a pipeline routing in‑game reports straight to Slack to speed fixes.