Palworld developers are accused of plagiarism and using AI

While millions of users are playing Palworld, its developers from the Japanese Pocketpair studio are accused of theft on social networks. In addition, they are reminded of a loyal attitude towards generative AI.

The position of users who criticize the developers is that the artists borrowed style, elements and images from the Pokémon franchise when working on Palworld characters.

As noted by VGC, threads have appeared on the social network X, which indicate which elements of monsters are borrowed from Pokémon. Some users believe that the authors of Palworld created their characters, literally fusing together those belonging to The Pokémon Company.

The situation is aggravated by the fact that Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe has repeatedly admired the possibilities of generative AI on the same social networks. In one of his tweets, he stated that one day AI will help to avoid copyright problems, in another showed how to use AI can create new characters for the Pokémon universe.

At the same time, in a pre-release interview with Automaton, Mizobe stated that his team takes the issue of creating games very seriously: "We in no way want to violate the copyrights of other companies in any way."

So far, neither The Pokémon Company, which is responsible for publishing and licensing the brand, nor its parent company Nintendo have commented on Palworld, its success and approach to working with graphics.

However, in a comment for the Game File blog, former lawyer for The Pokémon Company Don McGowan stated: "The game resembles an ordinary plagiarism. I have faced this kind of thing thousands of times every year, being the legal director of the company. I'm surprised that this time things have gone so far."

Meanwhile, particularly patriotic Pokémon fans began, according to Pocketpair CEO, threatening him and the game's artists.