Palworld, the multiplayer survival game likened to "Pokémon with guns," has become one of the most successful titles of the past decade, having drawn over 40 million players since its 2024 debut and now selling over 3.5 million pre-order packs for its new collectible card game. With Pocketpair's franchise expanding beyond video games, speculation is growing over whether an anime adaptation could be next, mirroring the rapid multimedia growth Pokémon experienced after its 1996 launch.

Pocketpair has stated it has "no official plans" for a Palworld anime, but the company has held a partnership with Sony's Aniplex, a major anime studio, since 2024, and already produces short animated YouTube videos called "PalAnime." The game itself has had a turbulent journey, switching development engines from Unity to Unreal Engine 5, selling 2 million copies within 24 hours of its early access launch, and facing scrutiny over design similarities to Pokémon, before recently reaching its full 1.0 release after two years in early access.