In case you missed it, 2024’s most viral hit just dropped over the weekend, and it’s only January. If you didn’t miss it, then yes, this is about Palworld, the game that everyone is talking about. Whether you’re already setting up camp in Palpagos Island or still hovering over the buy button, here’s what you need to know about the controversial Pokémon lookalike.

What is Palworld?

As the last two words explicitly hint, Palworld earned its surprising fame to the meme-worthy moniker as “Pokémon with guns.” As soon as everyone started calling it that, social media immediately hopped on and strapped a rocket onto the indie game’s back, making it one of the most successful launches on Steam.

In fact, calling it a finished game might be overstating it. Steam released Palworld as an early access game on January 18. Developed by an independent studio called Pocket Pair, the small game relies heavily on mechanics from other popular games.

Besides featuring creatures that look awfully similar to Pokémon, it also has a survival mechanic reminiscent of Ark: Survival Evolved, Minecraft, and Rust. The exploration in the game also reminds players of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Genshin Impact.

In a nutshell, players find themselves in Palpagos Island in a simple quest to survive. To do so, they have to gather resources, research technologies, and build bases. The island’s inhabitants aren’t the friendliest either. Boss battles are aplenty featuring a crime syndicate right on the island. Also, if players commit crime, a police force is ready to arrest them.

Now, players don’t have to do the heavy lifting on their own. Around the island, Palworld has over a hundred creatures known as Pals. To catch them, players have to use ball-shaped items called Pal Spheres. Every Pal has their own special ability to help out with battling or base-building.

The controversy

Catching adorable animals with balls for battles? The premise will likely sound familiar to most players. After a lot of people jumped on the “Pokémon with guns” meme, the other side of social media turned on the trendy game by criticizing its apparent plagiarism on the popular Nintendo franchise.

Some users have even accused Pocket Pair of using AI to generate creatures for Palworld. To be clear, there is absolutely no evidence that the game uses AI for creature designs. At the very least, it’s apparent that Pocket Pair heavily relied on existing Pokémon designs for its own creatures.

AI or not, nothing could stop irked Pokémon fans from sharing their grievances against the game. Some have even called for boycotts.

Are the allegations justified?

However, despite the obvious similarities to the Pokémon franchise, Palworld remains playable on Steam. For a generally litigious company, Nintendo hasn’t touched the base game at all.

To further hammer that point in, a modder developed a way to import Pokémon assets to the game. Nintendo wasted no time and took the mod down. The base game was left alone, though. It’s clear that Nintendo is fine with the game (or, at the very least, does not have any legal recourse against it).

Also, this isn’t Pocket Pair’s first rodeo. The studio’s previous game, Craftopia, likewise gathers a lot of inspiration and assets from another Nintendo property, The Legend of Zelda. The available screenshots clearly show a reskinned Bokoblin and a paraglider. Despite all those, the game is still up on Steam. Whatever Pocket Pair is doing, Nintendo seems perfectly okay with letting things roll.

Should you play Palworld?

As with every incredibly popular game today, play what you want. Palworld is clearly capturing everyone’s attention right now. If you want to join the fun, you absolutely could. It’s a fun game with a unique creature-catching mechanic. If anything, The Pokémon Company can take some pointers to improve their own series.

Likewise, if the plagiarism issue is too much, refusing to play the title is an acceptable choice, too. After all, originality should be valued in the creative industry. Just don’t force others to make the same decision.

Regardless of which side you lean more towards, Palworld is certainly a moment in time for 2024. Of course, the game’s longevity still remains to be seen. At the very least, it’s something a lot of people can enjoy.

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