Palworld, aka ‘Pokémon with guns’, is out now and already shooting to the top of Steam’s most-played games list. It’s early days of course but already it seems safe to declare the game a hit. And it’s going down well with players, too. On Steam, Palworld has a ‘very positive’ user review rating.
But some Pokémon fans are less than impressed, and that’s because of the clear and obvious similarities between Palworld and Nintendo’s all-conquering, family friendly gotta catch ‘em all franchise. Are Palworld’s Pals too similar to Pokémon? Are we in “rip-off” territory here?
As Palworld trends across social media, one vociferous debate cutting through the din revolves around this very question. For some Pokémon fans, Palworld is a shameless clone, and they’re letting the internet know it.
Here’s a snippet of the reaction:
That’s definitely not a coincidence pic.twitter.com/AFSRKngGD5
— Barbie-Élite4 (@Barbie_E4) January 18, 2024
— onion_mu (@onion_mu) January 18, 2024
— onion_mu (@onion_mu) January 18, 2024
— onion_mu (@onion_mu) January 18, 2024
Reminder not to support palworld, it’s not even subtle about its rip offs, how much else has it stolen? pic.twitter.com/amoWemNcpC
— AutumnRaptor (@AutumnRaptor1) January 17, 2024
Snorlax/Tangrowth, Staraptor, Xatu, Cobalion
— Substitube OFFICIAL 🍃🔥💧 (@substitub3) January 18, 2024
Actually, Cinderace funnily enough has the best chance of getting Palworld sued by the Pokemon Company
This is a COMPLETE carbon copy. The only difference this thing has between Cinderace is it’s a Grass type pic.twitter.com/Wv22P0qP8i
— Bun (@GodmasterBun) January 19, 2024
On the topic of Palworld monster designs:
No, heavily referencing and copying from Pokémon designs won’t harm the Pokémon Company. I don’t think people are arguing that.What it does is come off as incredibly shady and lazy. Make something original.
— LuxxArt✨💫 (@LuxxArt) January 19, 2024
People told me that there are hundreds of original designs and not everyone was a blatant copy of a Pokémon.
Guess what? I’ve seen the rest and with no surprise, 90% of them are definitely a copy of existing Pokémon, with some of them literally having parts of their models.
Damn. https://t.co/2109NvZy6c— Barbie-Élite4 (@Barbie_E4) January 18, 2024
I don’t got any hate currently against PalWorld but we can’t deny that A LOT of these designs were ripped from Pokemon, some almost identical https://t.co/iUHixSrqDx pic.twitter.com/mNUtzUOADO
— Bun (@GodmasterBun) January 19, 2024
The response to the complaints from Pokémon fans appears to be a mix of indifference and the odd clap back.
Nintendo fans: Ummm haven’t you seen how many Palworld creations are just rip off designs??? Its evil to play this game!!!
Me just wanting pokemon with guns: pic.twitter.com/LaWn4kdIh3
— Misheru Katorin 🇳🇱 (@MKatorin) January 19, 2024
As for developer Pocketpair, it has distanced the game from comparisons to Pokémon, highlighting the survival aspects that are reminiscent of games like Ark: Survival Evolved.
It seems unlikely complaints about Palworld from Pokémon fans will dampen its success, with concurrents increasing by the hour. However, it’s worth noting the Xbox version lags behind the Steam version in terms of functionality.
Be sure to check our IGN’s Palworld Early Access Review in Progress to find out what we think of the game.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.