Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe isn't sure whether the studio should take this year's surprise hit Palworld free-to-play.
In an interview with ASCII.Jp (translated by Automaton), Mizobe discussed the challenges of switching a game to free-to-play when you've already released it as a paid product, and the uncertainty the prospect is causing within the studio.
"To be honest, things aren't decided yet," Mizobe said. "When you think about it from a business perspective, making it a live-service game would expand its lifespan and make it more stable in terms of profitability."
Palworld wasn't designed with a live-service model in mind and a switch to this model would likely be accompanied by Palworld becoming free-to-play, possibly causing a problem for the 25 million players who have already paid $29.99 for the game.
"It is common for live-service games to be free-to-play with paid elements such as skins and battle passes, but Palworld is a buy-to-play, so it's difficult to turn it into a live-service game from the ground up," Mizobe provided.
Pocketpair understands the difficulty of suddenly switching to a live-service model. He points to Fall Guys and...
