Everyone has a general idea about what Pokemon is, but there’s this new game that’s just launched called Palworld that is somehow going around like wildfire—because everyone has just been teasing it as “Pokemon with guns.”
From the company Pocket Pair, Palworld is an open world survival RPG that lets player jump into a world littered with cute monsters called “Pals”, and they have to duke it out with them (with guns or other weapons) in order to tire them out and catch them with “Pal Spheres”. Sound familiar? Check out the launch video:
Fans have also particularly pointed out that the characters in the game have a very similar kind of art style to that of the Pokemon games. With that in mind, everyone was wondering why Nintendo has not been suing the company yet, and now they’ve released a statement (via @DiscussingFilm):
The Pokemon Company has made a statement about Palworld:
“We have received many inquiries regarding another company’s game released in January 2024. We have not granted any permission for the use of Pokémon intellectual property or assets in that game. We intend to investigate… pic.twitter.com/nE2QGb1f7W
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) January 25, 2024
Take note, Nintendo has only started their legal action when modders of the game had started making mods that put actual Pokemon in Palworld. When it comes to the actual game though, it doesn’t seem they have any solid grounds to sue them, especially since they don’t own an ‘art-style’ as a lot of fans would call it.
So far, Palworld is proving to be a huge hit, and has amassed over 7 million players less than a month since it released. Besides elements influenced by Pokemon, others are also noting influences from other games including Vanheim and Horizon Zero Dawn.
We don’t know how far this feud with Palworld and Pokemon will go, but as of now, some think The Pokemon Company was just forced to issue a statement by fans who have been snitching on the game and its similarities to Pokemon.
Palworld is now playable for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
