After many rumors of infringement, the Pokemon Company is investigating Palworld, a game that has rapidly gained attention by selling over 8 million copies only a few days after launch.
Palworld, an open-world survival game, has several in-game characters that bear a striking resemblance to the iconic creatures in Nintendo’s Pokemon games. However, unlike Pokemon, Palworld players have the ability to physically engage with Pokemon-like critters, referred to as “Pals,” including using weapons such as guns.
The similarities between Palworld and the well-established Pokemon franchise have prompted the Pokemon Company to look into the matter further. Now, the Pokemon Company is investigating Palworld to understand the nature of the resemblance and the claims of plagiarism. Keep reading to find out more about this investigation and the similarities between the two popular games.
Pokemon Company Is Investigating Palworld as Confirmed By An Official Statement
The Pokémon Company has recently addressed Palworld, a widely successful Pokémon-inspired survival game. In an official statement on Thursday, the company expressed its intention to thoroughly investigate the game and take appropriate legal action should any infringement upon its intellectual property rights be identified. The statement acknowledged numerous inquiries received regarding a game released in January 2024 from another company, although it refrained from explicitly naming Palworld. The implicit reference, however, leaves no room for ambiguity according to Polygon.
It also added in it’s statement that, “We have not granted any permission for the use of Pokémon intellectual property or assets in that game. We intend to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon.”
Undergoing a notable shift in tone, The Pokémon Company then shared, “We will continue to cherish and nurture each and every Pokémon and its world, and work to bring the world together through Pokémon in the future.”
The Pokémon Company serves as the entity overseeing all Pokémon licensing and publishing endeavors. It operates as a collaboration involving Nintendo, the Pokémon video game developer Game Freak, and Creatures, responsible for crafting the Pokémon trading card game. Much like Nintendo, The Pokémon Company is renowned for seriously safeguarding its intellectual property. Notably, just before The Pokémon Company’s statement, Nintendo took action against a Palworld mod introducing actual Pokémon into the game.
Palworld’s Resemblance to Pokemon
Concerns of plagiarism have surfaced surrounding Palworld since its debut in early access on January 19. The allegations primarily revolve around the character designs, known as Pals, which players can collect, capture, and engage in battles. Despite Palworld introducing unique elements such as smoking guns, crafting, and base-building—features not typical in the Pokémon series—players are pointing out significant resemblances between Pals and Pokémon. It appears that some players in the gaming community actually contacted the Pokemon Company regarding this, resulting in the recent investigation that aims to find evidence of plagiarism.
The game’s early access debut has had overwhelming success with over eight million copies sold. Developed and published by the small Japanese indie studio Pocketpair, Palworld swiftly soared past 2 million concurrent players on Steam, outdoing Counter-Strike’s peak and trailing only behind PUBG’s long-standing record. Impressively, the game is also accessible on Xbox and through the Xbox Game Pass subscription.
#Palworld has sold over 8 million copies in less than 6 days!
Thank you very much!!
As stated previously, we continue to work at full-speed on addressing bugs and issues!
Thanks for your support!#Pocketpair pic.twitter.com/4PLB1J4CYH— Palworld (@Palworld_EN) January 25, 2024
