As early as its reveal, players described the monster-fighting game Palworld as being like Pokémon with guns, but Palworld developer Pocketpair has revealed its developers don't like the label, preferring fans to let Palworld stand on its own without comparison.

IGN spoke to John Buckley, the publishing and communications director of Pocketpair, at last month's Game Developers Conference about the studio's plans for the future and its rise to new heights thanks to Palworld's popularity. Of the "Pokemon with guns" comparison, Buckley stated:

“We revealed the game to the world in June of 2021, so quite a few years ago. We posted a trailer at what's called Indie Live Expo, which is an indie gaming event in Japan. We showed this off to the Japanese audience initially, we had a really, really good reception. But very quickly, Western media got eyes on this little game, and we were very quickly branded, as early as 2021, as a ‘certain franchise’ plus guns. This would be something that has stuck with us to this very day, despite our best efforts to shake that off.”

Buckley went on to explain that Pocketpair never saw Pokémon as the inspiration for Palworld, claiming the team never mentioned Pokémon in its pitch and instead cited another popular game as the development team's muse. Palworld was released in 2024, offering players the chance to battle and catch monsters called Pals to use for building, combat, and travel.

Palworld Devs Found More Inspiration From ARK

Developers Weren't Expecting To Be Compared To Pokémon

Rather than following in the footsteps of Pokémon, Pocketpair leaned on a lesser-known game as inspiration: ARK. Buckley specifically cited ARK: Survival Evolved as a big inspiration for the Palworld development team, saying many of them are "huge ARK people" and the studio's previous game, Craftopia, also drew from the 2017 survival game.

Buckley went on to describe the pitch made for Palworld, with the team saying, "Let's make something like ARK, but a lot heavier on the automation and each creature's [like] its own very special thing." The team looked to ARK so much so that they were "surprised" to see comparisons drawn to Pokémon, with Buckley adding Palworld "isn't remotely like" the hit franchise.

Regardless of inspiration, Palworld has drawn a fair amount of criticism from players and industry insiders, including Nintendo itself, thanks to its similarity to Pokémon. Nintendo has even alleged that Pocketpair plagiarized some Pokémon patents related to gameplay and mechanics.

"Pokémon With Guns" Still Helped Palworld Find Popularity

Being Compared To Such A Successful Franchise Boosted Palworld's Reach

Despite his distaste for the label, Buckley agrees that summarizing Palworld as "Pokémon with guns" caught the attention of players and helped launch Palworld into the spotlight, though the moniker may have given players the wrong idea about the game. He and the rest of the team at Pocketpair feel that Pokémon and Palworld aren't even competitors, saying, "I don’t think the audiences cross over that much." Given its response to Palworld's release, Nintendo clearly disagrees.

Pokémon's popularity across various platforms, from tabletop games, video games, movies, and TV shows, is undeniable, and people who have never engaged with any Pokémon media have a general idea of what the franchise is, thanks to its longevity and continued popularity. Naturally, at the time of Palworld's launch, Pokémon fans were driven to the game, leading them to draw comparisons between the two properties.

It's not easy for new releases, especially those from indie developers, to become popular, and being compared to a game that's both well-loved and universally known certainly helped launch Palworld into the spotlight. Palworld now has a following of its own, and Pocketpair is pursuing what's next for its game. Regardless of where the franchise goes, separating Palworld's nickname from its concept is going to be an uphill battle for the developer.

Source: IGN