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Cherri
Cherri

Posted on

Palworld embroiled in AI and Pokémon ‘plagiarism’ controversy

Summary:

  • Palworld, a new survival game by Japanese studio Pocketpair, is facing accusations of plagiarizing designs from Pokémon.
  • Social media users have pointed out similarities in character designs and raised concerns about the developer's history with generative AI tools.
  • The game's director, Takuro Mizobe, responded to the allegations, acknowledging some influence from Pokémon but urging an end to online abuse directed at the game's artists.

Discussion (3)

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marshalshoen profile image
marshal

Regardless of what you think, the threats and online abuse is totally unwarranted.

But yes this is totally AI generated Pokémon, the evidence seems clear. And even if a person made it, it would be suspect behavior to have those assets at all. I think the game is well done and fun, but did it have to come so close to being Pokémon? I mean even the blatant rip of pokeball capturing. The amount of time that went into this game, I feel, could of had some of its energy directed at making more creative assets and maybe a different mechanic that made it unique, and not quickly associated with Pokémon.

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maven64 profile image
Maven • Edited on

Having it be “Pokémon with guns” seemed like it made it a marketing success. I’m unsure if it would be as successful as it was without being so closely associated with an IP that people already love.

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messo profile image
Messo

To say it’s not at the very least inspired by pokemon would be a complete lie. This game is so gray area from an intellectual property standpoint that it’s really an extreme exercise in “at what point is it stealing?”