The Pokémon Company breaks silence on Palworld amid rocketing sales

The Pokémon Company has broken its silence on the newly released game Palworld after players dub it “Pokémon with guns”.

Palworld has soared in popularity since it was released on 19 January, with millions of games sold. It is an action-adventure survival game made by the Japanese developer Pocket Pair.

But, it has drawn some criticism for featuring creatures that many say closely resemble characters from the world-famous Japanese media franchise, Pokémon.

Some have gone so far as to call Palworld “such an obvious rip off” and it seems Pokémon is now going to do some investigating into the claims after it released an official statement on the matter.

The statement, posted on 25 January, was titled “Inquiries Regarding Other Companies’ Games”. The content of the statement never referenced Palworld by name, but Pokémon confirmed it has not granted permission for “Pokémon intellectual property” to be used.

They wrote: “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 and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon. 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.”

In response, one person reasoned: “Well on the upside we can let the experts decide if it's plagiarism now instead of everybody becoming armchair investigators.

“On the downside, I'm not sure the precedent that this will make will be a good thing depending on how it goes.”

Pocket Pair has been contacted for comment.

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