Summary
Don McGowan, The Pokemon Company’s former chief legal officer, has labeledPalworldas “ripoff nonsense.” His views on the hit survival game dovetail with those of some vocalPokemonfans who are not happy aboutPalworldand eager to criticize it any chance they get.
Originally unveiled by Japanese developer Pocketpair in mid-2021,Palworldis an open-world survival game with monster-taming mechanics whose early access version hit PC and Xbox consoles on January 19. Despite sharing more similarities withCraftopia—Pocketpair’s last title—thanPokemon, it has so far proven to be unable to escape the “Pokemonwith guns” label attached to it by both critics and fans alike. But as the ongoingaccusations ofPalworldripping offPokemonsuggest, that description may not be completely baseless.
Don McGowan, who worked as The Pokemon Company’s chief legal officer over a 12-year period ending in 2020, has now offered his two cents on the ordeal. Speaking withGame File’s Stephen Totilo, McGowan describedPalworldas “the usual ripoff nonsense” that he used to encounter on a daily basis back when he was still with The Pokemon Company International. “I’m just surprised it got this far,” the industry veteran said. It is unclear whether that remark was meant to implyPokemonripoffs usually fizzle out before release, or that McGowan would look into suing PocketPair for copyright infringement if he were still in charge of allPokemon-related legal affairs.
McGowan’s former employer has so far remained mum on the hit game. Seeing howPalworldhas been sharing gameplay footage for years leading up to its early access release, The Pokemon Company already had ample time to prepare a copyright infringement complaint. Whether it decided against doing so because it wasn’t convinced it had an iron-clad case against Pocketpair or some other reason is unclear. But there is little doubt that the conglomerate has been aware ofPalworldand its similarities toPokemonfor a long time now.
This looks like the usual ripoff nonsense that I would see a thousand times a year when I was Chief Legal Officer of Pokemon. I’m just surprised it got this far.
The ongoing controversy has so far generated quite a bit of toxic discourse online, whichculminated in thePalworlddevelopers getting death threatsfrom some seemingly disgruntledPokemonfans. Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe has subsequently taken to Twitter to condemn the harassment of his employees, stating that he is ultimately the one responsible for the game’s content.
Though some of its elements were seemingly designed as a parody ofPokemon,Palworldhas long been trying to distance itself from comparisons with Game Freak’s hit franchise. And while its efforts to do so have yielded little results so far, the game still managed to become a massive hit, blowing past 5 million sales following its launch weekend.
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!
