Palworld plagiarism controversy intensifies: criticized by peers for suspected fusion of multiple game mechanics and use of AI generation, Naughty Dog employee calls it "cheating"

Since the beginning of 2024, Palworld, a game developed by Japanese independent developer Pocket Pair, has quickly become popular. The game's sales exceeded 6 million copies in a short period of time, and the peak number of players on Steam also surpassed CSGO to rank second in the historical list. However, the success of this game has also been questioned by some game developers.

Del Walker, a senior artist at Naughty Dog, posted a post saying: "Although there is no evidence, my intuition tells me that the way Palworld is made is malicious." He believes that this game has fused gameplay from multiple games such as Pokémon, Ark, and Rust, and uses AI generation technology, which is a "cheating" behavior.

Another game developer, Rami Ismail (SumoDigital artist), also agreed with Del Walker's point of view, saying: "Making a game is an extremely difficult thing. They are cheating in some way, but I don't know the specific way."

Bakaba, who once served as the game director of Deathloop, believes that the mechanics of Palworld are actually not like Pokémon, but more like inspired by Ark and Rust. However, this game clearly has many similarities with games such as Pokémon, The Legend of Zelda, and Fortnite.

The controversy over Palworld has also sparked heated discussions among players. Some players believe that the success of this game is justified because it has fused the advantages of multiple games and provided a unique gaming experience. Others believe that the success of this game is "watery" and it is simply exploiting players' enthusiasm for the Pokémon IP.

Currently, Palworld is still in the early access stage, and whether the final version of the game will resolve the controversy remains to be seen.