Sony partnered with Palworld

[The Royal Cheesewagon]

Seems sony wants to compete with pokemon. I am not bothered by that really.
But I am concerned later down the line we might need a PSN Account just to play Palworld.
Feels like we might be dealing with another helldivers situation.
Having said that, It seems they may not have the licence to the game itself.
Should we be worried?

[boblick]

This partnership is only about the merchandise they are launching. And they are partnering with Sony Music and Aniplex. So don't worry.

[Toy Box Heroes]

Originally posted by boblick:

This partnership is only about the merchandise they are launching. And they are partnering with Sony Music and Aniplex. So don't worry.

Well that's a relief!

Hopefully that’s as far as the partnership goes with Sony.

[Sam the big Toucan]

Originally posted by The Royal Cheesewagon:

Seems sony wants to compete with pokemon. I am not bothered by that really.
But I am concerned later down the line we might need a PSN Account just to play Palworld.
Feels like we might be dealing with another helldivers situation.
Having said that, It seems they may not have the licence to the game itself.
Should we be worried?

https://youtu.be/gF15myCFwmk?si=2s3da9SAAydSe5bW

Its impossible

[Irene ❤]

It happened in Helldivers. After feedback the company decide not to continue forcing an account.

[Sagebrush]

Sony's a barrel of radioactive waste. Sorry to hear the Palworld devs couldn't stay away from it.

[Teratus]

I'm not worried as of right now.
Plus this whole PSN linking cancer is so far more of a Sony exclusive thing as far as I can tell.

Palworld isn't a Sony IP so I doubt they'll be able to cram PSN requirements into it... but if that does end up happening down the road..
Well lets just say that the next time Sony end up suffering from a massive cyber attack, I'll definitely be one of the people cheering for the people doing it, and laughing if it ends up costing Sony a small fortune.. because screw em.

[Shrub]

Originally posted by Irene ❤:

It happened in Helldivers. After feedback the company decide not to continue forcing an account.

Do you happen to know what was their contract like? I never dug too deep into that situation.

Palworld has explicitly outlined that Sony has no control over their IP. I'll Copy and Paste a summary of the deal by off-steam user benHDR and highlight the relevant bit:

Originally posted by benHDR:

• PocketPair are forming a joint venture with Sony Music Entertainment and Aniplex, known as Palworld Entertainment
  
  
• This new venture has been made "for the purpose of accelerating the multifaceted global development of Palworld and it's further expansion."
  
  
• Aniplex will soon be offering a range of Palworld merchandise via their online store
  
  
• The agreement specifically mentions that video game licenses are not included as part of the deal

Its a very interesting deal and I think it highlights how valuable the IP is predicted to become

[Wantoomany]

This is no different then what happened a few months ago when Pocketpair announced a partnership with Tencent. Everyone's head came unscrewed and crys of rage and doom were heard far and wide. In the end, it was no big deal, it was just a deal for regional server hosting. The great evil was not unleased, doom didn't happen.

I dislike Sony as much as any reasonsable person, but I can't get worked up over this. This deal is not more doom. It won't kill the game. If anything it's going increase the visibility of Palworld to more people.

[McGoodGreen]

Don't just read the headlines people, read the whole dang story. If you did, you would often see the specifics pointed out. Sony hasn't bought up anyone and has no control over Palword.

Headlines are filled with all sorts of buzz words and by themselves are often wildly misleading. They want you to react like "No flippin way!" and then READ the article.

You won't need a PSN account to enjoy Palworld anytime soon.

[The Royal Cheesewagon]

Originally posted by McGoodGreen:

Don't just read the headlines people, read the whole dang story. If you did, you would often see the specifics pointed out. Sony hasn't bought up anyone and has no control over Palword.

Headlines are filled with all sorts of buzz words and by themselves are often wildly misleading. They want you to react like "No flippin way!" and then READ the article.

You won't need a PSN account to enjoy Palworld anytime soon.

emphasis on anytime soon.
However Sony has done a lot of sketchy stuff in the name of greed. But I am taking a wait and see stance with this.

[McGoodGreen]

Originally posted by The Royal Cheesewagon:

Originally posted by McGoodGreen:

Don't just read the headlines people, read the whole dang story. If you did, you would often see the specifics pointed out. Sony hasn't bought up anyone and has no control over Palword.

Headlines are filled with all sorts of buzz words and by themselves are often wildly misleading. They want you to react like "No flippin way!" and then READ the article.

You won't need a PSN account to enjoy Palworld anytime soon.

emphasis on anytime soon.
However Sony has done a lot of sketchy stuff in the name of greed. But I am taking a wait and see stance with this.

So your stance is...because Sony has made people sign up for a PSN account...Palworld isn't allowed to make merchandise with them?

And...what are you waiting for...exactly? You bought the game already. They have your money. Are you gonna avoid playing until you see? And see what?

Does Palworld need to release a statement saying they would never make you have a PSN account? Even though you can't even play Palworld on a Playstation? What would it take seeing for you to cease "waiting"

[Teratus]

Originally posted by McGoodGreen:

So your stance is...because Sony has made people sign up for a PSN account...Palworld isn't allowed to make merchandise with them?

Sony has earned a lot of distrust lately so I can't blame people for being concerned about any deals with them.

And...what are you waiting for...exactly? You bought the game already. They have your money. Are you gonna avoid playing until you see? And see what?

Actually because people bought the game that's exactly the reason they're concerned.
In the unlikely event Sony does get their way and PSN becomes required to play this game then millions of people who bought the game will essentially loose access to it unless they give in to Sony's ransom demands and create/link a PSN account to their Steam accounts.

That's exactly what happened with Helldivers, people already bought the game and then had their access to it removed when Sony retroactively added a PSN ultimatum to the mix.

That is horrifically anti consumer in every way and no company should be allowed to get away with doing something like that... it's immensely scummy and immoral.

Does Palworld need to release a statement saying they would never make you have a PSN account? Even though you can't even play Palworld on a Playstation? What would it take seeing for you to cease "waiting"

They don't have to, but it would hardly take much effort on their part to do it.
End of the day there's a lot of distrust in the industry these days, so a statement like that would put some peoples minds at ease..

I'm not personally concerned that this scenario is on the table myself but i'm aware enough of gaming controversies to at least understand why some people are worried about something like this.

[Irene ❤]

I don't think there is a need to worry.

I was once worried about the way they spend. Why did they pay $600k just for few minutes presentation on Game festive, announcing a free sakura patch? Now I see their plans. They wanted to have branding image, and wanting other talents to join them.

They are not trying to give their game away to others so we have to use others platform and account. They want others to support their ambition. With Sony involved there will probably be opening cinematic and a game song. With Aniplex there probably will be plushies.

[Teratus]

Originally posted by Irene ❤:

I don't think there is a need to worry.

I was once worried about the way they spend. Why did they pay $600k just for few minutes presentation on Game festive, announcing a free sakura patch? Now I see their plans. They wanted to have branding image, and wanting other talents to join them.

They are not trying to give their game away to others so we have to use others platform and account. They want others to support their ambition. With Sony involved there will probably be opening cinematic and a game song. With Aniplex there probably will be plushies.

Palworld Merch is honestly a no brainer.. I mean just look at how much money Nintendo print with Pokemon alone.. and they got Merch for a lot of their franchises.

Pocket are smart to get involved with that stuff for Palworld, it's a goldmine waiting to be tapped.

Frankly they should go all in on a few other things too like a Trading Card game, a board game could sell very well too so long as it's good.
Kids and nerdy fandoms love stuff like that.

Another thing to explore is crossovers as well, Palworld has a lot of potential for crossovers.

Ofc the big one will be some kind of Anime based on the IP.. there is a monumental amount of potential in something like that... but it's very expensive investment as well so that's a potential downside.

[Hellsmoke]

I will not create a PSN account, telling you that right now. If that becomes a thing, this game is getting uninstalled and hidden from my list. Screw Sony.