Palworld was all the rage a few months ago because of its similarity to Pokémon, and the fact that it allows players to do a plethora of things they normally can't in Pokémon titles. It has since died down, but that doesn't mean that others aren't looking to copy that level of success.
Tencent is Making a Mobile Clone of Palworld
Palworld is not as accessible as mobile games since it's only available on PC and Xbox, but that won't be an issue any longer. However, a mobile version of the game won't exactly be from the same company. Instead, a clone will be developed by Tencent.
PocketPair CEO Takuro Mizobe acknowledged this, which led people to assume that he was accusing Tencent of copying the game, with some even mentioning hypocrisy given that Palworld is very similar to an already-established franchise.
The Palworld head has since cleared the air saying that the acknowledgment was not meant negatively and that to "accuse" someone of something means they are doing something wrong. "I don't think what Tencent is doing is wrong," Mizobe expressed on X.
"I'm proud that other companies want to make games like Palworld. The industry historically innovates when we borrow ideas from games we love [...] I'm surprised that many high-quality mobile games are already in development," he continued.
As predicted and seen, Pokémon publisher Nintendo was not as gracious about PocketPair's development of a game inspired by the popular franchise. "We have not granted any permission for the use of Pokémon intellectual property or assets in that game," the company said.
Nintendo also expressed that it intends to investigate and "take appropriate measures" to address the allegations of infringement on its IPs, as per Kotaku. Mizobe said that they have "absolutely no intention of infringing upon the intellectual property of other companies."
The game being developed by Tencent definitely has the potential to be a big title, maybe even bigger than Palworld since mobile gaming is a more accessible platform for gaming. Even the player base and revenue for the mobile game industry can attest to that.
Tencent's Games
Tencent is a very well-known publisher in the mobile gaming world. It has seen success in a lot of its titles, such as PUBG Mobile, which it co-developed with LightSpeed Studios and KRAFTON, Inc., as well as Call of Duty: Mobile, which it jointly launched with Activision.
In fact, the company intends to create more in-house games as intellectual property games have proven to be costly, according to Reuters. Royalty fees for partnerships can hike up to 20% of sales, and that is besides the 30% cut Apple takes with App Store purchases.
Tencent Chief Strategy Officer James Mitchell said that the company is focusing on fewer bigger-budget games. However, that doesn't mean that the video game giant will cease collaborations altogether.
It is currently working with Ubisoft for the release of Assassin's Creed Jade for mobile, which has been a multi-year project. Hundreds of people from the team have already been redeployed and the game is set to be released in 2025.
