Palworldan action-adventure video game from Japanese developer Pocket Pair, which debuted via Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview on January 19. In just three days, five million copies were sold, making it top selling and most played game on the Steam charts, with players describing it as addictive fun: “Tried it for a few hours at 9pm, had some fun, it was 3am.” mentionted a satisfied redditor who downloaded the game.
But this customer's description of the game itself hints at a point of contention that has complicated its runaway success. Palworld. “It scratches both the Pokémon and survival game itches at the same time,” they wrote. Indeed, the game's cast of “Pals”, – fictional creatures that can be captured and used to the player's advantage – have drawn many comparisons to Nintendo's massive POKEMON franchise, developed by Game Freak, which also relies on a cast of creatures to be captured for the player's own purposes.
The POKEMON Comparisons have created hype for the game, with reviewers calling it “POKEMON With guns.” In a post citing Palword's impressive rendition on X (formerly Twitter), one user quipped, “Kids FREAK Pikachu holding an AK-47.”
The game lets you not only equip your friends with weapons, but lead them into battle or make them work on construction projects — even eat them if necessary. (Between details like this and his dark humor on the themes of poaching and forced labor, some Palworld critics found it a sour kind of fun.) Such varied forms of interaction in an open-world environment where players can choose their own goals mark a departure from the many POKEMON releases over the years, which tend to have a narrative quest structure.
Under other circumstances, this could vary Palworld enough for Pocket Pair to claim reasonable doubt when players accused them of grabbing POKEMON. The problem seems to be that many pals closely mirror many Pokémon, from the overall aesthetic to the schematic 3D models. Of course, both sets of creatures are largely whimsical reinterpretations of real-world animals, but some developers, artists, and designers believe the matches are too precise to be random.
Reactions ranged from outrage at the alleged copying to plagiarism dismissals to outright indifference. Those who ask “who cares?” tend to point out that if Pocket Pair is eating Game Freak's lunch by throwing Pokémon-like characters into a new format, it's because the latter developer hasn't made the most of its own valuable intellectual property. (Even POKEMON Fans tend to agree that there was a getting off to the quality of the games.)
Meanwhile, Pocket Pair founder and CEO Takuro Mizobe on Monday issued a statement noting that the company's artists had been the target of abusive comments and “death threats”, confirming that he is “responsible for the production” of the game. Without directly referring to the discussion of Pals' plans, he added: “I would appreciate it if you would refrain from defaming the artists involved in Palworld.” In one interview with gaming news site Automaton, Mizobe also stated that the game had been reviewed and was not facing any legal action. “We take our games very seriously and have absolutely no intention of infringing other companies' intellectual property,” he said.
Nintendo and Creatures Inc. (parent company of Pokémon), who jointly own the POKEMON franchise with Game Freak, did not immediately respond Rolling rockhis request for comment.
However, any perceived similarities between a given Pal and Pokémon may soon be moot: Australian YouTuber Toasted Shoes has already teased a modification of Palworld which turns your protagonists as Pokémon trainer Ash and each Pal into a familiar Pokémon counterpart so you can travel with a Deerling or recruit Pikachus to mine rock to build a fortified fortress. He plans to share a full video of the mod on Tuesday, and from there, it's likely that many players will embrace the mashup to get the most out of it.POKEMON With weapons' experience.
Of course, the attention of gamers is a fickle thing. No matter how much buzz (good and bad) it has generated through it POKEMON connection, Palworld it will need to continue to evolve during this early access period to maintain customer loyalty. The mere novelty can wear off in a matter of weeks. If, on the other hand, Pocket Pair can meet the demand for polished features and gameplay, it won't just guarantee more sales – it'll also help cement the impression that their game is a unique, standalone competitor in the monster-collecting genre. .
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