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Well this could be about to get interesting, as The Pokémon Company have actually released a statement in regards to all the speculation about Palworld amid many claims of copying Pokémon's homework.

So far, there's no really solid proof that I can see of any actual direct copying (or of any AI use that people keep claiming too). There's a good few similarities to a few Pokémon, but lots of the examples people keep sharing around don't have me overly convinced. 

Here's what The Pokémon Company said (source):

Inquiries Regarding Other Companies’ Games

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.

The Pokémon Company

They didn't name Palworld directly, likely as that might put them in hot water if nothing comes of it.

Really, this reads a bit like a "please stop emailing us" statement. It was obvious they were going to look into it. Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are notoriously tough on taking action and they already started wiping traces of a Pokémon mod for Palworld. Even Nexus Mods have said they will not be hosting any such mods.

Again, they cannot take action just because it's a game that has monster catching in it. Pokémon don't own that idea, they can't. They could only take action for actual plagiarism. And as a whole, Palworld is actually objectively a very different game to anything Pokémon has put out.

In other news, Palworld crossed 8 million copies sold now.

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42 comments
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McCarthee Jan 25
"we have received many inquiries". Bunch of Nintendrones grassed on them. Pathetic.


Last edited by McCarthee on 25 January 2024 at 6:59 pm UTC
Nyx Jan 25
There is already clear-cut solid evidence of plaigiarism on the part of Pocketpair.

But since they made so much money from Palworld, one would hope they would use it to hire on a few more artists so that the Pokemon ripoff designs can be replaced with less infringing designs and models.
Those examples are pretty conclusive. It's the 3D modeling equivalent of copying a paragraph, changing a few words, and then passing it off as your own work. I suspect, at the very least, the Pal World developers will be forced to remove those critters from the game.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Asmongold/comments/19eluud/the_guy_who_accused_palworld_of_stealing_pokemon/

dude providing the evidence rescaled the models to fit.
Reason for doing it was he dislike animal abuse :)
Nasterium Jan 25
This was probably spurred up by Pokemon cultists frothing at the mount in anger on reddit who no doubt were hounding Nintendo and Pokemon company every 5minutes to sue/delete PalWorld!

Seems more of an indictment of brand loyalty and its insanity.

Pocket Pair is in the all clear anyways as one look at the game credits show that Lakshya Digital (https://www.lakshyadigital.com/about) was contracted for the monster designs.
This was probably spurred up by Pokemon cultists frothing at the mount in anger on reddit who no doubt were hounding Nintendo and Pokemon company every 5minutes to sue/delete PalWorld!

Seems more of an indictment of brand loyalty and its insanity.
Remember, kids--brands aren't loyal back.
There is already clear-cut solid evidence of plaigiarism on the part of Pocketpair.

But since they made so much money from Palworld, one would hope they would use it to hire on a few more artists so that the Pokemon ripoff designs can be replaced with less infringing designs and models.
Those examples are pretty conclusive. It's the 3D modeling equivalent of copying a paragraph, changing a few words, and then passing it off as your own work. I suspect, at the very least, the Pal World developers will be forced to remove those critters from the game.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Asmongold/comments/19eluud/the_guy_who_accused_palworld_of_stealing_pokemon/

dude providing the evidence rescaled the models to fit.
Reason for doing it was he dislike animal abuse :)

So I can make what is effectively a carbon copy of another 3D modeler's work and call it my own as long as I scale my model up or down? That doesn't sound right, but perhaps I've misunderstood what you mean by "rescaled".
There is already clear-cut solid evidence of plaigiarism on the part of Pocketpair.

But since they made so much money from Palworld, one would hope they would use it to hire on a few more artists so that the Pokemon ripoff designs can be replaced with less infringing designs and models.
Those examples are pretty conclusive. It's the 3D modeling equivalent of copying a paragraph, changing a few words, and then passing it off as your own work. I suspect, at the very least, the Pal World developers will be forced to remove those critters from the game.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Asmongold/comments/19eluud/the_guy_who_accused_palworld_of_stealing_pokemon/

dude providing the evidence rescaled the models to fit.
Reason for doing it was he dislike animal abuse :)

So I can make what is effectively a carbon copy of another 3D modeler's work and call it my own as long as I scale my model up or down? That doesn't sound right, but perhaps I've misunderstood what you mean by "rescaled".
I'm finding it all quite confusing. Maybe it's a reptilian critter and they actually mean putting different scales on it.
TheRiddick Jan 26
So I can make what is effectively a carbon copy of another 3D modeler's work and call it my own as long as I scale my model up or down?

More or less, provided you made it yourself. But also tweak some details to make it transformative.

I think there is some legal thing where it needs to be %10 different.

But it also comes down to what influenced the original model, is it really unique or just another copy of something else.
Nyx Jan 26
There is already clear-cut solid evidence of plaigiarism on the part of Pocketpair.

But since they made so much money from Palworld, one would hope they would use it to hire on a few more artists so that the Pokemon ripoff designs can be replaced with less infringing designs and models.

Those examples are pretty conclusive. It's the 3D modeling equivalent of copying a paragraph, changing a few words, and then passing it off as your own work. I suspect, at the very least, the Pal World developers will be forced to remove those critters from the game.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Asmongold/comments/19eluud/the_guy_who_accused_palworld_of_stealing_pokemon/

dude providing the evidence rescaled the models to fit.
Reason for doing it was he dislike animal abuse :)

So I can make what is effectively a carbon copy of another 3D modeler's work and call it my own as long as I scale my model up or down? That doesn't sound right, but perhaps I've misunderstood what you mean by "rescaled".

I just briefly went over it but as I understood it, was it not simply global size resize but but individual y and x axis proportions to align with the model
But that's just how I understood otherwise I can't see why he would apologise for modification.
Belaptir Jan 26
There is some worryingly cult-like behaviour out there regarding Nintendo. I'm a former fan myself, but never fitted in with the fandom because when the company got things wrong, I took issue with it and shared opinions on how they could improve, as any sane person would. That gets you run out of town in those circles

I've been cut out from a chat group because I decided I wasn't having it anymore from Nintendo with all they've been doing. Apparently for some cultists, disagree with Nintendo and treat them like a company and not like a friend is a sin or something. Not that I care tho.
grahfgames Jan 26
Honestly, considering how terrible the Pokémon games have been the past few years, no wonder Pal world is so popular. 95% of artistic works are derivative of something that has come before it, unfortunately. Look at music composition for example, the western musical system can only have so many combinations of notes before we just start repeating single note phrases, let alone chord progressions. How many songs are based off the same I-V-VI-IV chord progression - I would say every single pop song ever ;)
Honestly, considering how terrible the Pokémon games have been the past few years, no wonder Pal world is so popular. 95% of artistic works are derivative of something that has come before it, unfortunately. Look at music composition for example, the western musical system can only have so many combinations of notes before we just start repeating single note phrases, let alone chord progressions. How many songs are based off the same I-V-VI-IV chord progression - I would say every single pop song ever ;)
And don't even get me started on art. Consider all those portraits of human beings! Just the exact same kind of creature, over and over! Not only that, sometimes you get different artists doing portraits of the same human being other artists have already drawn! It's a scandal I tell you.


Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 26 January 2024 at 5:35 pm UTC
Pengling Jan 26
I've been cut out from a chat group because I decided I wasn't having it anymore from Nintendo with all they've been doing. Apparently for some cultists, disagree with Nintendo and treat them like a company and not like a friend is a sin or something. Not that I care tho.
Ugh, tell me about it - I know EXACTLY what you mean!
redneckdrow Jan 26
Somehow, people are forgetting:

Digimon
Monster Rancher (Both of these together with Pokémon make up the "Big Three" "mon" series.)
Devil Summoner - Shin Megami Tensei (The Ur example for a "mon" game. I hate SMT, but even I know that.)
Medabots
Spectrobes
Fighting Foodons (Am I the only one who remembers this show?)
Telefang
Dragon Quest Monsters
Monster Hunter Stories

Many of these are huge franchises in their own right. Are we gonna call them ripoffs now too?

I love Pokémon and Nintendo, but I'm not blind. That said, one of 'em does look like Electvire with a nose.

People need to cool down. Sending the Palworld devs death threats? That's beyond insane.

Edit: Forgot the original three Makai Toushi Saga (AKA The Final Fantasy Legend) games.


Last edited by redneckdrow on 26 January 2024 at 7:07 pm UTC
Pengling Jan 26
Fighting Foodons (Am I the only one who remembers this show?)
I'm not familiar with it, but having looked it up, it sounds somewhat familiar, so I must've heard of it somewhere along the line. Sounds like an amusing spin on the idea, honestly!

Edit: Forgot the original three Makai Toushi Saga (AKA The Final Fantasy Legend) games.
And the Bomberman Max titles. I'm playing through the first one right now - it was already on my list, but then the whole Palworld thing bumped it up to the top.

There's also Robotrek, and fellow GOL'er Nasterium pointed out to me the other day that Wizardry IV also counts as one of the originators of the genre.
Many of these are huge franchises in their own right. Are we gonna call them ripoffs now too?
Gotta say, when I first saw a piece of an episode of Digimon on TV my first thought was "Whoa, now there's a transparent ripoff of Pokemon!"
Not that I cared, or thought about whether it was actionable or anything, but that was what instantly came to mind.
Pengling Jan 27
Gotta say, when I first saw a piece of an episode of Digimon on TV my first thought was "Whoa, now there's a transparent ripoff of Pokemon!"
Not that I cared, or thought about whether it was actionable or anything, but that was what instantly came to mind.
I remember thinking the same thing when the Digimon virtual pet keychains first came along (they pre-dated the show by a couple of years, and had little to do with it except for some of the monsters and their evolutionary paths). But with that original context, it was also a lot clearer that they were taking the monster-collecting idea into a raising-focussed direction instead.

They still make them, too. I've got one of the modern ones on my desk at the moment, and it can even connect to the classic one I have, as well.
Gotta say, when I first saw a piece of an episode of Digimon on TV my first thought was "Whoa, now there's a transparent ripoff of Pokemon!"
Not that I cared, or thought about whether it was actionable or anything, but that was what instantly came to mind.
I remember thinking the same thing when the Digimon virtual pet keychains first came along (they pre-dated the show by a couple of years, and had little to do with it except for some of the monsters and their evolutionary paths). But with that original context, it was also a lot clearer that they were taking the monster-collecting idea into a raising-focussed direction instead.

They still make them, too. I've got one of the modern ones on my desk at the moment, and it can even connect to the classic one I have, as well.
And I mean, something being a transparent ripoff doesn't necessarily make it bad. I quite enjoyed The Sword of Shannara even though it was clear to me from the start of reading it that it was a transparent and inferior ripoff of Lord of the Rings.
Pengling Jan 27
And I mean, something being a transparent ripoff doesn't necessarily make it bad. I quite enjoyed The Sword of Shannara even though it was clear to me from the start of reading it that it was a transparent and inferior ripoff of Lord of the Rings.
Of course! It's how genres are built, at the end of the day. And sometimes, all you want is a competent effort at more of the same - that's why I always quite liked Zool, for example.
redneckdrow Jan 27
Gotta say, when I first saw a piece of an episode of Digimon on TV my first thought was "Whoa, now there's a transparent ripoff of Pokemon!"
Not that I cared, or thought about whether it was actionable or anything, but that was what instantly came to mind.
I remember thinking the same thing when the Digimon virtual pet keychains first came along (they pre-dated the show by a couple of years, and had little to do with it except for some of the monsters and their evolutionary paths). But with that original context, it was also a lot clearer that they were taking the monster-collecting idea into a raising-focussed direction instead.

They still make them, too. I've got one of the modern ones on my desk at the moment, and it can even connect to the classic one I have, as well.
And I mean, something being a transparent ripoff doesn't necessarily make it bad. I quite enjoyed The Sword of Shannara even though it was clear to me from the start of reading it that it was a transparent and inferior ripoff of Lord of the Rings.

Apropos of nothing, I've still got a first edition of Sword of Shannara, both in hardback and paperback. I bought them at a flea-market for $1.50. Someone didn't know they were selling what was, at the time, a ~$50 collectible hardcover for peanuts.

I love the original trilogy. Everything after
Spoiler, click me
Walker Boh's death just seems downhill to me.

As the books go on, they seem to be leaning science-fantasy more than your bog-standard story. It gets way too dark later on. The fact that Shannara's world is 4000 AD post-apocalyptic Illinois is hilarious, though.

Menion Leah is still my favorite character. Keeping all the Ohmsfords straight is a nightmare.
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Honestly, considering how terrible the Pokémon games have been the past few years, no wonder Pal world is so popular. 95% of artistic works are derivative of something that has come before it, unfortunately. Look at music composition for example, the western musical system can only have so many combinations of notes before we just start repeating single note phrases, let alone chord progressions. How many songs are based off the same I-V-VI-IV chord progression - I would say every single pop song ever ;)
And don't even get me started on art. Consider all those portraits of human beings! Just the exact same kind of creature, over and over! Not only that, sometimes you get different artists doing portraits of the same human being other artists have already drawn! It's a scandal I tell you.
Yeah, I was going to use James Bond as an example. Can no one else ever use a secret agent who dresses in a tux in a movie? That would be completely too limiting.
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