I still remember the first week of Palworld in January 2024. The internet lost its mind over Pocketpair's so-called 'Pokemon with Guns,' and honestly, so did I. According to SteamCharts at the time, it was the most-played game on Steam, and its mix of base-building, combat, creature collection, and exploration felt like a fever dream that somehow worked.

But with great publicity comes great scrutiny. A mysterious Twitter (X) account popped up showing striking similarities between Palworld and Pokemon character models. Then VGC published a report where 3D artists said the models looked suspiciously alike. The question stopped being whether Palworld was 'influenced' by Pokemon and became whether Pocketpair was using assets as a baseline. I watched the discourse split into two camps: people who wanted to burn Pocketpair at the stake, and people who insisted that art styles are never original.

A CEO Who Said the Quiet Part Out Loud

The most interesting wrinkle, for me, came from Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe. In a 2022 interview with Wired Japan, while talking about Never Grave, a game that looks remarkably similar to Hollow Knight, he said:

'I have a deep-rooted desire for my work to be enjoyed by as many people as possible, and to that end, if there are good ideas in the world, I pick them up, and I don't necessarily have to be particular about originality. I'm thinking about it. I want to make it more casually. I think it would be a good idea to create things in a way that just jumps on what is trendy (lol).'

I found that refreshing, even if it made me wince. So many studios rip off the recent hot thing without ever admitting it. Enchanted Portals is basically a direct Cuphead rip-off. Foregone borrows Dead Cells' distinctive art style so heavily that it feels like a tracing. Yet their creators rarely say, 'Originality isn't the goal.' Pocketpair did. That honesty is unusual, and it directly addresses what many of us feel when we see derivative games.

In Pocketpair's defense, Palworld and Never Grave are not pure clones in gameplay. My colleague Wyatt observed that Palworld is more Slime Rancher than Pokemon. It has comprehensive base-building, survival crafting, and a huge multiplayer focus. Never Grave is expected to have multiplayer and base-building too. That starts to paint a picture: those systems are what define Pocketpair games, while the art styles are details that, as Mizobe said, jump on what is trendy.

Where I Draw the Line in 2026

Two years later, in 2026, the debate has matured. Nintendo and The Pokemon Company filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair in September 2024, and that legal fight has continued to shape the conversation. As of my reporting, there has not been a public, final judgment proving that Pocketpair used Pokemon assets. The lawsuit is largely about patents, not copied models. That distinction matters.

But it does not erase the original suspicion. If it ever turns out that Pocketpair's artists used assets from other games, every defense I just described collapses. The Pokemon Company is notoriously litigious, and it would bring absolute lawsuit hell. It would be a massive shame, because by most accounts Palworld is a very good game on its own merits. It is not an all-round ripoff. For it to fall apart because the artists could not be bothered to design their own creatures would be foolishness of the highest order.

Here is how I see the scorecard in 2026:

Question	My take
Is Palworld influenced by Pokemon?	Obviously. The creature designs and vibe invite the comparison.
Is Palworld only a Pokemon clone?	No. Base-building, survival, and multiplayer make it its own beast.
Did Pocketpair admit to chasing trends?	Yes, and that honesty is rare.
Would asset theft be acceptable?	Never. If proven, the goodwill evaporates.
Has the lawsuit settled it?	Not publicly. The legal battle is about patents, not just art.

Pal-agiarism Is Not Cool, Kids

I keep coming back to one thought: influence is not theft, but theft is not influence. Pocketpair can borrow ideas, art direction, and even whole genres. That is how culture works. But if the studio crossed the line into using another company's actual assets, then no amount of clever base-building or multiplayer chaos will save it.

In 2026, Palworld still has a passionate player base. Pocketpair keeps updating the game. The Pokemon Company keeps its lawyers close. And I keep watching. I want to believe that Palworld succeeded because it was a weird, ambitious survival game that happened to look like Pokemon, not because it stole from Pokemon. That is the version of the story I would rather tell. But I am a player, not a judge. Until the courts or the artists give us a definitive answer, I will hold both truths: Pocketpair was honest about chasing trends, and honesty alone does not make asset theft okay. 🎮