Summary
A senior official at Arkane Lyon, the developer of theDishonoredfranchise, has defendedPalworldagainst its vocal critics, all the while offering an extremely insightful breakdown of the game. His detailed thoughts on Pocketpair’s latest title stand in stark contrast to theaccusations thatPalworldis a shameless ripoff ofPokemon.
The $30 survival game with monster taming mechanics has taken the world by storm since launching in early access on January 19. But its massive success has also invited a lot of scrutiny from some gamers whokeep insistingPalworldis a lazy copy ofPokemon.
Dinga Bakaba, the studio director and co-creative director at Arkane Lyon, has now chimed in on theongoingPalworldvsPokemoncontroversy. Taking to Twitter, the industry veteran shared a detailed breakdown of the game spanning 21 tweets and over 2,000 words. The write-up begins with Bakaba pointing out thatPalworldis first and foremost a survival game in the vein ofArkandRustinstead of aPokemonclone. On the subject of its similarities with Game Freak’s franchise, the Arkane official noted that Pocketpair’s title never pretended not to be aPokemonparody, so some overlap isn’t just understandable but par for the course.
Bakaba also praised the immense effort that went into seamlessly blending all ofPalworld’s many mechanics, noting that he was “baffled” to see some people label the game as “lazy.” Elaborating on that point, Arkane’s studio director said that creating an experience that plays well and is accessible is no easy feat, especially when it comes to a project that’s juggling with as many different elements asPalworldis. Bakaba also dismissed the allegations that the game’s character designs might have been churned out with AI tools as baseless.
As a game designer, I’m baffled that some say [Palworld] is lazy.
Finally, the developer stated that while there’s obviously no obligation for anyone to likePalworldor any other game, this does not justify bashing people for having different opinions. “Maybe let’s just be tolerant,” Bakaba concluded, all the while opining thatPalworldis “very unique” for a game that attracted so many accusations claiming it to be a blatant ripoff.
Despite this attempt at offering a voice of reason, the online discourse surrounding the game still appears to be rather heated, to say the least. This was most recently underlined bysomePalworlddevelopers getting death threats, prompting Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe to plead with the public to stop harassing his employees.
Palworld
WHERE TO PLAY
In this game, you can peacefully live alongside mysterious creatures known as Pals or risk your life to drive off a ruthless poaching syndicate. Pals can be used to fight and breed, or they can be made to work on farms or factories. You can even sell them or eat them.Survival: In a harsh environment where food is scarce and vicious poachers roam, danger waits around every corner. To survive, you must tread carefully and make difficult choices…even if that means eating your own Pals when the time comes.Mounts & Exploration: Pals can be mounted to traverse the land, sea and sky—allowing you to traverse all kinds of environment as you explore the world.Collect all kinds of exciting Pals to fight, farm, build, and work for you in this completely new multiplayer, open world survival and crafting game!
