If you decide to type Pokémon survival game into the Google search engine, you will come across a game called Palworld, which recently sold five million copies and was played by 1.3 million people at the same time. Many claim that this game resembles Pokémon, in addition to allowing you to catch different creatures and progress through levels, it also features a very similar appearance of Pokémon themselves or their copies, while at the same time sharing similarities with Ark, where guns are present, survival through collecting resources and upgrading the base. Some even go so far as to compare it to Zelda and Valheim. However, it is a bit sad that Palworld receives criticism for its similarity to Pokémon, while, for example, the gameplay itself is not commented on at all, which is exactly what the biggest discussions should be about. It's like it's the only game in the world that resembles this Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures hit. As if Cassette Beasts, Coromon, Temtem, Nexomon and other similar games were never heard of.
Two years ago, the Pokémon Company decided to sue six Chinese companies making mobile games for copyright infringement and unfair competition. The mobile game in question was Pocket Monster Reissue (Koudaiyaoguai Fuke in Chinese), which was claimed to be a Pokémon clone. Which was actually true, because a lot of mobile games shamelessly copy Pokémon and it all flies under the radar. Could this happen with Palworld too? Very likely not. But, on the other hand, Pocketpair, the studio that developed Palword, is also not ethically "clean" because there are doubts that it uses generative AI in its games. Basically, generative AI can “learn” structure and patterns from a data set and then independently generate new examples that are similar to the ones it has learned. For example, a pal (that's what your companions in Palworld are called) named Anubis is quite similar to Lucario from Pokémon. Very likely because the AI took the similarities, added some basic characteristics of Anubis as a god from Egyptian mythology, mixed it and created the aforementioned fella.
Before creating Palworld, Pocketpair launched Craftopia, an open-world survival game that was released in early access but never made it out. The reasons for this decision are unknown, but the company apparently decided to refocus on a new project. Many actually point out the game's similarities to Palworld: same combat, same survival mechanics, same automation, same dungeon system, same building system, etc. In addition, the president and CEO of PocketPair Studios, Takuro Mizobe, is also a person heavily involved in the field of Crypto/Web3/NFT technology and is an open advocate of creating content generated by artificial intelligence
However, so far I have not seen concrete evidence to support such claims. I completely understand the reasons for the above accusations, given how unoriginal it all seems. It looks like they handpicked certain Pokémon and only changed the design slightly, while the rest of the models for items and structures look like generic elements you can find in the Unreal store. Regardless, I can't ignore the fact that this game throws up a lot of red flags that suggest there might be something fishy going on behind the scenes. It's especially odd that there's a lack of any concept art or a developer blog, which you can often find online related to other projects.
Because of this, a lot of drama stirred up on the Internet, where players were literally looking for similarities in the smallest details with Pokémon and Pals, and this was a hot topic on social media for several days (and still is). However, another perspective of this situation should be looked at. This actually works quite well for Palworld, because the game is constantly discussed and talked about. It is inevitable that there will be comments about the similarities, and perhaps the most interesting situation is that Pocketpair is also from Japan and is literally basking in the glory right in front of Nintendo. What surely attracted everyone is the fact that you can use guns, literally slaughter pals, explore a huge open world and play in cooperative multiplayer. In addition, there are survival elements, and the game does not require a huge grind from you in order to pass a certain part of the game. But, this is all superficial inside of it, after all, it is an Early Access title, and the main reason why everyone plays it is simple: If everyone is already playing it, why shouldn't I? Everyone is eager to experience what has created a certain hype, as the famous journalist Douglas Murray would say – the madness of the masses.
I believe that Palworld will be a light that will not last long, that is, it will have a short-term impact. I truly believe it will start a massive trend of games within the gaming industry dealing with taming and capturing monsters in an open world. Perhaps most developers will see an opportunity in the fact that the creature-collecting genre sells quite well. Part of me hopes that the future of the industry will not be marked by lack of effort and generated, plagiarized games. The industry is already experiencing a phase where developers are comfortable replaying the same game four times with minimal or no improvements.
Like Temtem, much of the excitement and success comes from spite. Pokémon fans, frustrated with the state of their own franchise, are exploring options that offer a similar experience or trying to encourage competitors to offer something innovative so that Game Freak and The Pokémon Company finally open their eyes. When was the last time we saw a Pokémon game with survival elements? You can buy Palworld for only €26, you have the freedom to create your character, there are no microtransactions for any optional in-game purchases, and there is a possibility that it will provide more content than some AAA games. So in the end I leave one open question: Is Palworld really just a quick cash grab or will it really turn into something unique over a period of time?
English (UK) 
Hrvatski