Modeler Who Compared Palworld And Pokémon Critters Denies Fabrication Accusations
The Palworld and Pokémon drama continues. After Pocketpair’s monster-taming survival game was accused of ripping models from Game Freak’s RPGs, an X (formerly Twitter) user has gone viral for comparing monsters between the two games. The comparisons were similar enough to convince fans that Palworld’s characters weren’t just look-alikes but could have been directly ripped from Pokémon games. However, there seems to be some misinformation floating around their comparisons.
Byo, the user in question, has posted several videos directly comparing the models of different Pokémon with Palworld’s “Pals,” and at a glance, the side-by-side seems pretty damning, as not only do the designs seem heavily, er, inspired by Pokémon characters, but some parts of the modeling looked almost identical to aspects of Game Freak’s creatures. However, in the days since their comparisons have gone viral to the tune of millions of views, accusations that Byo had fabricated or edited the models to fit the narrative have started sprouting up.
Read more
5 players from 2018 WJC team to be charged with sexual assault
R.I.P. Gary Graham, Star Trek: Enterprise and Alien Nation actor
But even if the Pals and Pokémon look similar, is this definitive proof that Pocketpair stole Game Freak’s assets? Byo says no, but the frequency with which proportions between games line up invites discussion and awareness.
“Even I don’t think there is 100 percent conclusive evidence, and I don’t think there ever will be unless someone finds an un-edited model,” they said. “At the same time, it’s really easy to edit models. You can remesh a model in like 10 seconds. I think all you can do is establish a pattern of similarities and let people decide if that indicates intent to copy or not.”
Ultimately, this ends up falling into the same pile as claims that Pocketpair used AI to create Palworld’s characters, in that it’s a narrative that has spun out from conjecture and assumptions, rather than conclusive evidence. Byo says they’ve made attempts to clarify information from those inquiring in good faith and that people have “[responded] well” in those interactions, but they’ve also spent at least one night up until 3 a.m. reading forum posts about the entire ordeal.
“It has been interesting to be the main character of Pokémon Twitter,” they said. “Mostly people have been nice, curious, and haven’t like sent me death threats. People should be skeptical of individual claims regardless of the subject, so good for them. One person did threaten to kill a cat on my behalf, but it’s Twitter, you know?”
As for Byo’s motivation, while they’ve been “roasted” for a tweet claiming they did this because of how Palworld “glorifies” animal abuse, they say they might have initially wanted to see Pocketpair’s game shut down, but they “feel empathy” for the team in the wake of the controversy.
“I do not think this is a very serious infraction in the grand scheme of things, and I certainly don’t want anyone to be threatened.”
Palworld is out now for PC and Xbox, and if you’re a Game Pass subscriber you can play it as part of your membership. Since the game’s Early Access launch, it’s been in a whirlwind of controversy for its similarities in character design to Pokémon, even if it’s mechanically pretty different from Game Freak’s RPGs. Pocketpair says it’s not worried about a lawsuit from Nintendo, though the Mario maker has come after a mod that changes all of Palworld’s Pals into Pokémon characters.
More from Kotaku
Masters Of The Air review: A brutal, beautiful World War II miniseries
'Stupid Waste of Time': Sounds Like Subway's Expensive Automatic Meat Slicers Are a Bust
The Icon Of The Seas Is 250,000 Tons Of Floating Carbon-Emissions Horror
MrBeast Raked In Over $260,000 Peddling Car Disinformation And Chocolate On Twitter
Sign up for Kotaku's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
