As the Palworld IP Expands, Following Pokemon to One Medium Makes Sense

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home November 8, 2024 13 Views 7 Min Read
As the Palworld IP Expands, Following Pokemon to One Medium Makes Sense



For years, Nintendo’s Pokemon franchise has been one of the biggest names in the industry. Players have spent hours fighting their way through its many video games, have watched all sorts of characters explore its massive world through the anime, and have spent hundreds collecting all of its trading cards. Through this, it has cemented itself as a cultural icon. And now, Pocketpair wants to do the same thing with the action-adventure title Palworld.




Palworld took the industry by storm when it was released earlier this year. Players flocked to its Pokemon-like world for an experience that Nintendo had never delivered before. Because of its gameplay style and unique take on the concept, it quickly became one of the biggest PC games of the year. So, naturally, the studio wants to capitalize on that with all sorts of tie-in projects. While there are tons of directions it could take the IP next, perhaps the best would be as a trading card game.

Pallworld Halloween Update Pal

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Palworld Could Fit Perfectly Into the Trading Card Game Template


It is no secret that Palworld shares a ton of similarities with the Pokemon franchise. The entire concept is built around collecting adorable creatures, many of those same creatures look incredibly similar to some of Pokemon‘s popular creatures, and Pal Spheres feel like they were ripped directly from the franchise. All of this has earned the title the nickname of ‘Pokemon with guns,’ which is partly why so many players flocked to it. Now that the base game is a hit, Pocketpair wants to further expand upon the Palworld IP with an anime adaptation.

As of now, there is no news about whether that anime adaptation will ever come to fruition. But, if it does, then Palworld will become even closer to the Pokemon franchise. Pokemon kicked off with a video game before it too explored the world of anime with numerous shows over the years. While it remains to be seen if that would work for Palworld, if it does, then there is seemingly no reason for Pocketpair to stop there. In fact, it could replicate Pokemon even further with a trading card game, both physically and digitally.


A Palworld TCG Feels Like an Obvious Direction for Pocketpair

The Pokemon trading card game has been a sensation ever since it first launched in Japan back in 1996. Over the years, the game has had numerous expansion packs, numerous spin-offs, and it has produced over 64.8 billion cards worldwide. The colorful world of Pokemon and its collection-themed gameplay has lent itself extremely well to this market, but the real draw has been its easy to pick up and hard to master gameplay loop. As of now, there is seemingly nothing that will slow it down, so it would only make sense for Palworld to attempt the same.

Palworld already shares a ton of similarities with Pokemon, so Pocketpair might as well lean into it even further. Players could collect beautifully made cards displaying all the different Pals and do battle against each other in classic high-stakes card game action. Energy cards could become powerful weapons, Trainer cards could be bosses, and, of course, the Pokemon would become Pals. As long as it too maintained a satisfying and thrilling gameplay loop, it could go on to become a massive success.


Pocketpair is still working on Palworld in early access, but it already wants to turn this IP into a brand-new franchise. While it wants to start with an anime series, the trading card game market also seems like the perfect place for this series to thrive. And if the physical cards succeed, then it could even expand it into its own video game spin-off, giving players even more ways to interact with its exciting world in the process.

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