The game was revealed in June 2021, meaning development likely started sometime in 2020 if not earlier. Many of the Pal designs present in the game today were in that trailer. AI art only started gaining traction around late 2022 and it was very primitive then, so I’d be extremely surprised if the Pals were created using any AI. Unfortunately most people just see shitty knockoff Pokémon and automatically scream AI, which in turn riles up all the anti-AI people.
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Definitely comes across as a 2020 Pokemon boom bandwagon thing, so that tracks. I personally don’t see this as being anything more than a novelty that’s fun in passing. Even if the gameplay is good in its own right, the fact that it’s so connected to being a spoof of Pokemon will actually hold it back in the long run (copyright stuff aside).
Yeah, I doubt it has staying power too. But I also don’t care if the hype of the game dies. As a survival/monster catching game I can play with my friends, it only “dies” to me when I and my friends personally lose interest in it. It just released so the hype is naturally way higher, and I really don’t think it’s trying to take on the Pokémon franchise either. Seems like the devs just wanted to make a fun game for people to play, so as long as there’s still some amount of people having fun while playing it down the line, then mission accomplished.
I’m not a lawyer but to me this seems to be a pretty obvious situation of derivative work, given the “copy my homework and change it a bit” vibe of this game. It’s not something that would be covered over fair use either. Temtem is a good example of a game that created entirely new characters. Whereas this one directly rips from the 3d pokemon models
When these assets are ripped this closely I don’t think you have much legal defense
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If the assets were ripped directly, then there’s grounds for a successful lawsuit. But if the assets were rebuilt and simply resemble parts of Pokemon, then there isn’t anything Nintendo can do. Anyone can create a snake-like creature with cute eyes and ribbons. TPC owns the designs themselves, not the ability to create designs of similar creative inspiration.
Again, I’m not defending the design choices for the Pals. I think they are for the most part pretty lame. But I can overlook those designs in favor of the game itself.
Additionally I’m curious as to why Nintendo/TPC didn’t issue a cease and desist towards the game in any of its last 2 and a half years of public development. Or why they didn’t go after the developer for its last game, Craftopia, which uses what are almost exactly Moblins and Bokoblins from BotW. Palworld might be too big now for them to ignore, though. Their most recent Twitter post about SV is flooded with comments about Palworld.
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It’s very clear the assets were taken directly and slightly modified. The only one above that doesn’t obviously line up is the suicune.
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None of those assets are 1:1 though, that’s the thing. The Pokémon models in question are simple enough where it would be very easy for someone with a decent amount of 3D modeling experience to re-create them. I’m not saying this is or isn’t the case, because there’s a decent chance it is, but Nintendo/TPC lawyers would need to prove the assets were directly ripped from Pokémon games and not recreated. How do you prove something like that?
You look at the placement of the vertices. I have some experience making 3d models and that Primarina hair and Serperior body are guaranteed copy pasted with some minor modification.
I also have some 3D modeling experience and the only way to prove the vertices are exactly the same is to compare the meshes of each model directly within 3D modeling software. And these models do have visible differences so even that won’t prove they were directly ripped.
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I thought the design copying thing was a bit of a reach but i saw a post showing many circumstances where pieces of pokemon models were directly pulled and used on these creatures
Yeah, exactly. Presumably if there was a lawsuit the 3d models would be part of the discovery process. Either way it’s only a matter of time before these pal models make it onto the internet
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Like this is the Goodra model with the proportions altered. They weren’t even trying to hide it.
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They may have ripped Pokemon I can’t speak for the legal side of that. I can say I’d have liked to see their own original mons. However, on the flip side as a Pokemon fan I’m glad they ripped Pokemon also. It’s absolutely hilarious to associate these Pals to the Pokemon we know with what you can do in the game.
All I know is that I’ve had much more fun playing Palworld in 2 days than I have with Scarlet/Violet in a year.
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I think the points saying stuff like everyone can make a snake with cute eyes are irrelevant. Not all copied brand logos look exactly the same but when it’s close enough or the origin where it’s based is clear enough it becomes a problem. Saying that these are okay is the same than saying adibas is a reputable sportswear company
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For the record I also think it’s hilarious this game is considered better than the mainline pokemon ones but that doesn’t say anything about whether or not it’s legal.
I imagine TPC might be a bit afraid to go after it too if they weren’t fully confident they would win. Losing means enabling a whole bunch more people to do the same thing
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That might be a risky decission for TPC since not doing anything could have exactly the same end result
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You guys should try it. I’m having loads of fun with it. It’s what Legends Arceus should have been.
Regardless of the legalities, I hope this really pushes TPCI to add better and better content to their mainline games.
However, they’ve also already sold over 23+ million copies of SV, so it’s possible they don’t care about Palworld or overhauling their future games.
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Up to 5 Million sales now, pretty huge!!
I completely agree!
I know Gamefreak and & Pokemon are pretty much fused together, but imagine how good a Pokemon game could be if developed by Nintendo.
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The “pals” are such blatant ripoffs of Pokemon I can’t believe Nintendo won’t come after this hard.
That said, Nintendo/Gamefreak/TPC take the hint… Cassette Beasts last year and now Palworld this year… people want a decent creature catching/collecting game and it’s been way too long since Pokemon fans got one. Legends Arceus was a fantastic concept, but a pretty mediocre game. Same goes for the last several main installments.
Now if only there were a Palworld Metazoo collaboration set, the internet might explode.
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