Gamers accuse Palworld of cloning Pokémon beasts

Recent social media activity has highlighted that the newly released game Palworld may have taken inspiration from Pokémon in its monster designs. Palworld, which features a collection of creatures known as Pals, exhibits character designs that closely resemble those from the popular Pokémon series. A number of comparative images have become widespread online, showing significant similarities between Palworld's Pals and various Pokémon designs. The connection has been further emphasized due to Pocketpair's previous game, 'AI: Art Imposter', which was based on AI-generated art, leading some to speculate about the possible use of AI to transform Pokémon into Pals for the game. Despite the controversy, Palworld has experienced remarkable commercial success, surpassing three million sales shortly after its early access release. In Palworld, players gather Pals to help with farming tasks, provide protection, and can even be sold or used for resources if shot. The game is available on Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, PC, and through Game Pass.

Palworld is a game where players collect and use creatures called Pals for various purposes such as farming, exploring dungeons, and fighting. It has a crafting and survival mechanism and allows for Pals to be utilized in multiple ways including harvesting them for food or materials. The game is reminiscent of the Pokémon series but includes mature themes such as weapon use and creature exploitation alongside its collecting and battling aspects.

Palworld is often compared to the iconic Pokémon series, which has been a gaming and cultural phenomenon since its release in the mid-1990s. Pokémon's influence is clear in many creature-collection games that have emerged over the years, with Palworld being one of the latest to draw these comparisons due to its familiar gameplay loop of capturing, training, and battling creatures in a fantasy world. As the conversation continues around the originality of Palworld's design, it becomes another example of how influential franchises can set the tone for entire gaming genres and the challenges new games face when entering those spaces.