Palworld is currently under fire from its following rumors of the game developer Pocketpair using AI to plagiarize Pokémon characters.
Several users on X (formerly Twitter) have pointed out how many of the characters in the game bear striking resemblance to Nintendo's copyrighted characters.
Serperior's model pic.twitter.com/R6wa6CaFwx
— Barbie-Élite4 (@Barbie_E4) January 18, 2024
It did not help that Palworld has a similar "catch 'em all" mechanic as it does in the Pokémon franchise. Several users also accused "Pokémon with guns" of ripping off from Ark and Rust. The accusations came amid the game's 4 million copies sold celebration. The game was released as early access on PC and Xbox last Friday, Jan. 19. Palworld has also previously charted 1 million concurrent players just days after release.
Pocketpair CEO Fully Supports Generative AI
Following Pocketpair's previous game releases raises more issues on the studio's credibility. Before Palworld, the studio released a game titled AI: Art Imposter, a Gartic Phone look-alike where players command AI to generate images, its Steam description says. Old posts from CEO Takuro Mizobe also resurfaced, mostly with him talking about using AI to avoid potential lawsuits from Nintendo. Internet sleuths also discovered that Mizobe delved into NFTs and even founded a crypto firm before starting Pocketpair.
Both NFT and cryptocurrencies are controversial topics on many sides of the gaming industry due to the digital currencies' connection to AI generation during its initial hype.
Gaming Industry Under AI Controversies
The use of generative AI has become a hot topic in the gaming community in the past months amid issues of copyright infringement and consent loss.
Several studios like Square Enix announced to be using AI more in their game production and marketing.
Even VALVe has allowed AI-powered video games back on Steam after its initial statement against the technology.
Sentiments against AU use have only grown larger over the past months after a series of layoffs from prominent game studios were reported last year.
