《幻兽帕鲁》（Palworld），开发商 Pocketpair 社长沟部拓郎接受外媒 VGC 专访透露在游戏 1.0 版获得成功，但仍希望维持独立开发商的精神。Pocketpair 发行与公关负责人 John「Bucky」Buckley 回应报导后续讨论在 X 发文，进一步探讨近年来愈来愈模糊的「独立游戏」（Indie Game）定义，认为真正重要的并非公司规模或资金来源，而是开发团队是否拥有创作自由。
Pocketpair 社长沟部拓郎日前接受外媒 VGC 专访时坦言随着《幻兽帕鲁》成功，公司规模已经不断扩大，如果单纯从规模与数字来看，或许已经接近 AA 级工作室，但 Pocketpair 仍希望保有独立开发商的精神，能够不受外界干涉，自由决定想要开发的游戏。
Bucky 则在 X 表示 Pocketpair 至今仍将自己视为独立工作室，最直接的理由就是公司完全依靠自有资金经营，《幻兽帕鲁》与 Pocketpair 都没有外部投资者或资金支持。他理解《幻兽帕鲁》的商业成功，让外界开始以不同眼光看待这家公司。
A pretty interesting write-up about how the label “indie” has become so blurred in recent years. We consider ourselves indie because we have zero outside investment or backing. Palworld and Pocketpair are entirely self-funded, but it’s understandable that our success makes people see us differently. On the flip side, many studios considered “indie”, including some that have won major awards and achieved huge success, have received funding and backing from much larger companies. So where does the indie line begin and end? …comments will quickly say “if you’re over X people then you aren’t Indie” but, I don’t think it can be clearly defined anymore. For me, creative independence is probably the most important factor. If a studio has genuine creative freedom, then I think it’s fair to consider them independent. If another entity is exerting creative pressure or making decisions for a studio, then I think that independence becomes questionable. Even then, plenty of studios receive external funding while retaining complete creative control. I don’t think having a publisher or investor automatically makes a studio any less indie. So yes, we still call ourselves indie. I know many people will disagree, and some will point to our size or the amount of money Palworld has made as reasons why we shouldn’t use that label. But from our pov, we’re 100% self-owned, we have no outside investors to answer to, and we have complete freedom to make the games we want to make. That’s what being indie means to us. If you’d rather call us iii or AA, that’s fine too! Ultimately, it’s just a label and all that really matters is that we’re still making fun games.
— Bucky | Palworld (@Bucky_cm) October 29, 2026另一方面，Bucky 指出，许多被大众认定为独立游戏的作品，甚至是曾获得重要奖项、取得巨大商业成功的开发团队，其实背后都有大型企业提供资金或其他形式的支持。这也让他不禁思考，究竟独立游戏与非独立游戏之间的界线应该如何划分？当有人讨论这个问题，留言区就会出现「超过多少名员工就不算独立工作室」之类的说法，但他认为，现在已经很难用这么简单的标准来定义。
「对我来说，创作独立性可能才是最重要的因素。」Bucky 认为如果一家工作室真正拥有创作自由，那么将其视为独立开发商并没有问题。相反地，如果有其他企业或组织对工作室施加创作压力，甚至直接参与开发决策，那么这家工作室的独立性就值得商榷。但他强调即使接受外部资金，仍有许多团队保有完整的创作主导权，不能仅因为背后有发行商或投资者，就否定独立身分。
Bucky 再次强调，Pocketpair 的所有权完全由公司自己掌握，没有需要交代的外部投资者，也不必为了满足其他企业的要求而改变游戏开发方向。「没错，我们仍然称自己为独立工作室。」
I do get what you’re saying, and I don’t disagree completely…but that said, is it really fair to say E33 (for example) isn’t indie just because someone helped with marketing? I think it’s blurry now, and while we can literally say solo devs with zero money are indie in the truest sense…the industry has matured quite a lot. I just don’t think it is that black and white anymore. Can we really say “Stardew isn’t indie because Chuckefish helped out with some marketing years ago?”. I think there’s a lot of nuance to the label now. ut then again, this is all just my opinion.
— Bucky | Palworld (@Bucky_cm) October 29, 2026有独立开发者反驳「不靠外部资金，自行开发发行游戏、那就是独立的本意」Bucky 则举了《光与影：33号远征队》作例子，仅仅因为有人帮忙行销就不是独立游戏真的公平吗？他认为字面上来说自有资金的单人开发才是最纯粹的，但因为产业成熟了，这件事情就不再黑白分明。「《星露谷》不是独立游戏，只因为 Chuckefish 几年前帮忙做了些行销吗？」他认为有很多探讨空间。
他也知道很多人不会同意，也有人会拿 Pocketpair 在《幻兽帕鲁》赚进多少钱来反驳，但从他们角度，完全自主的公司所有权、资金与创作决策权，就是独立游戏开发商的意义。至于外界如果更愿意将 Pocketpair 归类为 III 或 AA 级工作室，他也完全可以接受。因为说到底这些都只是标签，真正重要的事情始终只有一件，那就是 Pocketpair 仍然能够继续制作自己认为有趣的游戏。
目前 Pocketpair 也跨足发行商行列，成立 Pocketpair Publishing 为独立游戏开发者和小团队提供资金、开发协助与全球发行支援，并明确表示拒绝生成式 AI，旗下发行业务不会经手或者支援使用生成式 AI 所开发的游戏。
