SUMMARY
- Palworld is a massive success and with great attention, comes scorn.
- Palworld devs are getting death threats from fans of Pokemon fans.
Palworld had been controversial since day one. Its strong resemblance to Nintendo’s Pokemon was difficult to overlook. And it was expected that someday the similarity could possibly get the devs into trouble, and unsurprisingly it did. However, the devs have got into trouble that is rather unfortunate, unexpected, and uncalled for.
Nintendo, the owner of the Pokemon franchise, recently released a statement saying it was investigating the similarities of “another company’s game” after receiving inquiries. While the company was still in the investigation phase, some of Palworld’s devs have reportedly received threats.
Palworld developers receive threats
Some members of the Palworld’s developers team are being harassed online and receiving “unhinged threats” from people online. Although Palworld has been incredibly successful, it is not without controversies that have been following since the early trailers.
While Nintendo did speak against the similarities in the game, some Pokemon fans have decided to take the issue into their own hands. The developers at Pocketpair are reportedly being threatened with death threats because the fans think that the game has plagiarized their beloved Pokemon designs.
現在、弊社のアーティストに対して誹謗中傷が届いており、殺害予告に近いようなツイートも散見されます。
パルワールドに関して様々な意見を頂いておりますが、パルワールドに関する制作物の監修は全て私を含めた複数人で行っており、制作物の責任は私にあります。…
— Takuro Mizobe | Craftopia, Palworld (@urokuta_ja) January 22, 2024
Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe confirmed that artists at Pocketpair were being subjected to death threats. The CEO said that it would appreciated if people stopped “slandering” the developers.
Mizobe, in the tweet originally posted in Japanese said, “Currently, we are receiving slanderous comments against our artists, and we are seeing tweets that appear to be death threats. I have received a variety of opinions regarding Palworld, but all productions related to Palworld are supervised by multiple people, including myself, and I am responsible for the production. I would appreciate it if you would refrain from slandering the artists involved in Palworld.”
In spite of the Pokemon developers assuring legal action, if they find anything wrong, the threats to the Palworld devs have continued. Palworld community manager “Bucky” has been sharing all sorts of information about Palworld on X, including sales figures and patch notes. Bucky recently revealed that if they post anything about the game on the internet, they get “unhinged threats.”
They shared a tweet about the situation saying, “Shame, but ok.” Bucky further says these threats are directed at them and Palworld developer Pocketpair.
Why are Palworld devs being threatened?
It’s clear that the Pokemon fans are targeting Palworld developers because of the similarities that the game bears with Nintendo’s IP. The similarities between Palworld and Pokemon in terms of character designs, creature-catching concepts as well as the environment in which the ‘Pals’ interact have been quite evident.
Besides they have been already spoken about countless times by various fans, individuals, critics, and publications. It is safe to say the entire community including the original Pokemon makers is aware of these similarities.
Alright well, if I post anything but sales numbers or patch notes I guess the response for now will just be unhinged threats to myself and the company.
Shame, but ok. 🙇♂️
— Bucky | Palworld & Craftopia (@Bucky_cm) January 25, 2024
While the game is quite similar, it also has a lot of significant differences that make it stand out. The most glaring of them is the combat and survival element, which has given it the name ‘Pokemon with guns.‘ Although it has characters looking similar to Pokemon, the abilities of battle and combat that these characters have been given is something that Pokemon has never done before, and possibly wouldn’t even imagine of doing.
The disappointment and anger of the fans is understandable, but harassing the developers ver it with death threats is not appropriate or something even the Pokemon makers would encourage. Besides, The Pokemon Company, which is backed by an industry giant like Nintendo, is more than capable of handling things itself.