Pocketpair Lead Says Palworld Has Hundreds of Scrapped Pal Designs, But Sekhmet Was the Fastest To Go From Concept to Game

Palworld’s roster may now feature more than 200 unique Pals, but Pocketpair has created far more creatures than players have actually encountered. During a Gamescom 2026 interview with Gaming World Interviews, Pocketpair head of publishing and communications John “Bucky” Buckley explained that the studio maintains an internal “graveyard” containing hundreds of unused Pal concepts.

The revelation offers a look into how Pocketpair develops the creatures that form the foundation of Palworld. While many concepts are discarded during development, one particular Pal reportedly received such an enthusiastic response from the team that it moved through production remarkably quickly.

Pocketpair Has Hundreds of Unused Pal Concepts

According to Buckley, Pocketpair has multiple 2D concept artists who spend their time developing ideas for new Pals. Those sketches are shared internally through a dedicated Slack channel, where employees can rank the designs from one to five before the studio decides which concepts deserve further development.

However, approval of a sketch does not guarantee that a Pal will make it into the game. Once a concept moves into 3D production, Pocketpair can discover that its proportions, appearance or overall design does not translate well from the original artwork. Some concepts are subsequently abandoned, while useful elements can be combined with pieces from other rejected Pals.

Buckley described the process as producing a “graveyard” of “hundreds of rough Pals.” He also noted that some unused designs have been spotted by players in Palworld’s game files, although the majority never progress beyond early development.

Sekhmet Was Almost Instantly Approved

Sekhmet represents the opposite end of Pocketpair’s design process. Speaking to Gaming World Interviews, Buckley said,

“I think the fastest Pal to go from concept to design to production to modeling to rigging was Sekhmet.”

The reaction from Pocketpair employees was reportedly immediate, with Buckley recalling that the Slack response was essentially, “Make that one.” Sekhmet had actually existed internally for some time before becoming part of the game, and Pocketpair previously showcased the character in the Pal Farm trailer.

The studio ultimately decided that Sekhmet was better suited for the main Palworld experience rather than appearing earlier through Palworld: Home Sweet Home. That decision highlights how dramatically the development journey can differ between individual Pals.

Pocketpair’s process also demonstrates why the game’s creature roster is the result of extensive iteration rather than simply a collection of first-draft concepts. With hundreds of unused ideas already sitting in the studio’s internal archive, more surprising Pals could still emerge from concepts that have yet to see the light of day.