Palworld studio's first move as a publisher is to save a struggling indie dev: 'This is the energy I want to see driving games in 2025'

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"Both Surgent and Pocketpair are well-versed in taking risks."

Palworld early access
(Image credit: Pocketpair)

Pocketpair, the developers behind Palworld, has announced its first project as a publisher—a new horror game alongside Surgent Studios. This comes a few months after the studio responsible for Tales of Kenzera: Zau put its team on notice for redundancy.

"We noticed a pattern in the entertainment industry, and Pocketpair has given us the opportunity to make a horror game about it," Surgent Studios CEO Abubakar Salim says in a press release. "Both Surgent and Pocketpair are well-versed in taking risks. This game will be short and weird, and we think players will be interested in what we have to say."

This upcoming horror game won't be in any way related to Surgent Studio's previous game, Tales of Kenzera: Zau, but that doesn't mean the studio has left that universe behind entirely. "We’re still in earnest conversation about further projects set in the Tales of Kenzera universe, but this will be a standalone piece: A mile marker between where we’ve come from and where we’re going," Salim continues.

A horror game from Surgent Studios certainly does sound interesting. I had a lot of fun with Tales of Kenzera: Zau's platforming, fights, and cool abilities, and despite not making it to the top of my list, it was one of the games that really stuck out to me last year. So, I'm pretty excited about what this developer will do with a horror game.

"This is the energy I want to see driving games in 2025—developers lifting each other up, creating together, and pushing the industry forward," Salim says. "Massive love to the Pocketpair team! It’s an incredible honor to be the first partnership announced with Pocketpair Publishing. We’ve been cooking up something fun, and I can’t wait to share it with you all. Stay tuned!"

However, this new concept is different from the previous Project Uso pitch that Salim mentioned at the end of last year. Salim described Project Uso as a singleplayer isometric, Afro-gothic action RPG: "We still have so much more to say and so much more to build on," Salim says in an interview with IGN. "And the audiences that we've already started to build as well, and the players and the people who want to champion us, they want to hear more…We are ready. We're so ready. It is just about taking that leap of faith with us."

Two big water wheels

(Image credit: EA)

Regardless of what the project is, it's great to see Surgent Studios back on its feet after a rough few months at the end of last year. Before it had to put its team on notice for redundancy while the studio scrambled to find a new publisher and source of funding, it laid off "just over a dozen" employees. It seems like Pocketpair saw the potential that this developer has and wanted to help get its projects back on track.

"Game development comes with many challenges, but we want to ease that process as much as possible and provide an environment where creators can pursue their dreams," the head of Pocketpair Publishing, John Buckley, says in a press release. "We are pleased to be able to support Surgent Studios’ new title as our first step. We deeply sympathize with its original ideas and passion and are honoured to help them realize their vision. We will respect the autonomy and vision of developers and work together to make great games for people all over the world."

While it's great to see Pocketpair expand its horizons and help other indie studios along the way, it still has to deal with The Pokémon Company and Nintendo's patent infringement lawsuit. Pocketpair confirmed that it had received notice of this lawsuit, and despite not getting any specific details about what patents it was infringing upon, the studio said that it is working hard to ensure this doesn't affect new projects or maintenance on games like Palworld.

Elie Gould
Elie Gould
News Writer

Elie is a news writer with an unhealthy love of horror games—even though their greatest fear is being chased. When they're not screaming or hiding, there's a good chance you'll find them testing their metal in metroidvanias or just admiring their Pokemon TCG collection. Elie has previously worked at TechRadar Gaming as a staff writer and studied at JOMEC in International Journalism and Documentaries – spending their free time filming short docs about Smash Bros. or any indie game that crossed their path.