The new successful phenomenon game Palworld is hard to miss. However, as you can imagine, this is the subject of great controversy.
This isn’t the first time we’ve talked to you about Palworld on iGamesNews, as it bears a lot of resemblance to the Pokémon universe. Ironically, we even called it “Pokémon with Weapons” because its similarity to the Nintendo series was undeniable. In fact, the new game is currently at the center of a major controversy. Unfortunately, that was somewhat to be expected.
Palworld: Accusation of plagiarism and massive use of AI
The latest survival game on Steam, Palworld, developed by Japanese studio Pocketpair, is currently at the center of a plagiarism controversy. The controversy mainly concerns design similarities with the famous Pokémon, a situation made worse by the creator’s past related to generative artificial intelligence tools. A whole program…
Since its release in Early Access on PC and Xbox, Palworld has quickly experienced meteoric success. Even two million sales in just 24 hours. However, this enthusiasm has also reignited debate over apparent similarities between the designs of the Palworld characters and those of the Pokémon series. Despite its focus on survival gameplay similar to games like Ark or Rust, the influence of the Nintendo franchise is clearly visible in Palworld’s design… It would be disingenuous to say otherwise.
Plagiarism or not plagiarism?
Additionally, internet users have noticed and shared worrying similarities between Palworld’s creatures, known as Pals, and Pokémon. The question arises as to the authenticity and originality of these. There are voices on social networks criticizing Palworld and even suggesting reusing existing Pokémon.
Pocketpair’s history with generative AI tools further complicates the situation. This was explained by an artist named Zaytri, who frequently comments on social media, noting that one of Pocketpair’s previous games, AI: Art Imposter, relied heavily on an AI image generator as a central element of the game. Next, Takuro Mizobe, CEO of Pocketpair previously expressed his enthusiasm for using AI image generators in content creation. A controversial practice in creative circles. These tools are sometimes seen as replacements for professional artists who exploit their work without permission.
Nintendo is silent for now
Of course, this is not confirmation that Palworld’s designs were created using AI. However, this hypothesis could explain some of the similarities observed, especially since the Palworld development team was largely inexperienced. Composed partly of amateurs and even a former supermarket employee, although obviously anything is possible.
In a recent blog post, the CEO revealed that most of Palworld’s character concepts were developed by a single graduate student who had failed in her applications to numerous companies. Despite these controversies, Palworld is receiving very positive reviews on Steam, with mostly positive reviews across over 43,000 reviews.
We know that Nintendo is always on guard when it comes to plagiarism. At the moment the Japanese company is quite quiet. It remains to be seen what will happen in the future. This isn’t the first time a universe has been accused of plagiarizing Pokémon. This was also the case with Digimon back then. The problem is that the Palworld game already benefits from a Pokémon mod. Enough to really get Big N’s attention.
What do you think of the game?
Opinions about the game also vary greatly among the developers. One comment also sparked strong reactions, with a Naughty Dog developer stating that he had an inkling that the game was “malicious” (implying that there was something wrong with it).
On the other hand, some developers, like Arkane’s Dinga Bakaba, defend Palworld by stating that the game ultimately hits the nail on the head:
Ultimately, this game found the center of an unlikely Venn diagram :
People who like Pokémon: Cool Pokémon with weapons
People who don’t like Pokémon: Cool, Pokémon with weapons
THE player who like survival games: A survival game!
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