Palworld and No Man's Sky may be inching toward an official collaboration, after Hello Games founder Sean Murray replied to Palworld publishing lead John "Bucky" Buckley with an enthusiastic message on X.
Two Studios, One Ongoing Public Flirtation
Sean Murray's Excited Reply Is the Latest Sign of Interest
Palworld and No Man's Sky are once again the subject of speculation among fans, after Hello Games founder Sean Murray replied to Pocketpair's John "Bucky" Buckley on X with an enthusiastic, if vague, message: "Bro @Bucky_cm bro @Bucky_cm brooooooooooo ❤️."
Palworld is Pocketpair's creature-collecting survival game, which became a breakout early access hit in early 2024 and has since launched out of early access into its full 1.0 release. No Man's Sky is Hello Games' space exploration survival game, notable for a rocky 2016 launch that the studio spent years turning around through a long string of free major updates, a redemption arc that's made Murray something of a fan-favorite figure in the industry in his own right.
While short on actual details, Murray's excitement lines up with a pattern that's been building for months between the two studios. Back in April, Buckley publicly shot his shot on X, replying to one of Murray's posts with "Sean...email me, my man! It seems there could be a FUN COLLAB IDEA!" That exchange happened right around No Man's Sky's Xeno Arena update, a Pokémon-style pet-battling feature Sean Murray directly credited to the genre, saying in the update's announcement that the team is "huge fans of Pokémon, Palworld, and pet battling in World of Warcraft."
Buckley's enthusiasm hasn't cooled off since. Hours after Murray's "brooooooooooo" reply went up, Buckley replied by riffing on Eminem's "Stan," the song about an obsessive fan spiraling after his idol won't write back, casting himself as the one anxiously waiting on Murray to make things official. Also, in our own Palworld 1.0 pre-release interview, Buckley named Enshrouded, a survival-crafting action RPG from Keen Games, and No Man's Sky specifically when asked about future collab wishlist picks, saying plainly: "If we could make it make sense, we would do it tomorrow."
Pocketpair Doesn't Add Crossovers Lightly
Pocketpair has been rather selective of its partnerships. Despite Palworld's massive popularity, the game has only shipped two official collaborations since its 2024 launch: Tides of Terraria in early 2025, which added new islands, a dungeon, and Terraria-themed gear, and a crossover with the indie shooter Ultrakill in December 2025, which added the game's V1 and V2 combat gear. Both were released as free content updates rather than paid add-ons. Buckley has said on X (Twitter) that the studio turns down far more collab pitches than it accepts, a detail that reframes Murray's reply and Buckley's own past comments as a genuinely rare alignment.
Buckley has also been candid about why Pocketpair picks the collabs it does. In a message posted to Pocketpair's official Discord server, he explained the Terraria and Ultrakill crossovers happened simply because "we like them," adding that being trusted by the developers of games the team is personally a fan of feels like "a dream come true" for the studio. Notably, the Ultrakill pairing faced similar skepticism before it launched, given how little a bloody retro FPS and a creature-collecting survival game seemingly have in common on paper, which suggests genre mismatch alone wouldn't necessarily rule out a No Man's Sky collab either. That fandom-first approach lines up with the tone of Murray's reply from today, and with separate reporting from Neonsect indicating a Valheim crossover may also be in the works.
Nothing's Officially Confirmed, But Both Sides Keep Signaling Interest
For now, there's no official collaboration confirmed by either Pocketpair or Hello Games; the exchange between Murray and Buckley reads more like continued goodwill, and a genuinely funny bit, than an announcement. But between the public back-and-forth, Buckley's own past comments on wanting the crossover to happen, and a serenaded No Man's Sky account that has yet to publicly respond to Buckley's Eminem callback, it's clear the interest is mutual and ongoing, even if the logistics are still nowhere close to settled.
Sources:
Bucky | Palworld - X Reply (Eminem Stan
callback)
Bucky | Palworld - X Reply (April “FUN COLLAB IDEA”)
Xeno Arena Update Patch Notes (Steam)
Bucky | Palworld - X Post (On rejected collab pitches)
Pocketpair Official Discord - Bucky's Comments on Terraria/Ultrakill Collabs
Palworld Collabs Explained: Terraria, ULTRAKILL and What's Next (Neonsect)
