Palworld feels like the ultimate troll of gaming. It’s a troll on the concepts of IP and copyright because it so blatantly imitates Pokémon with its creature design. And it’s a troll on Pokémon fans, since it’s basically just another boom-bashing survival game. But boy oh boy, is it a successand as Nintendo and The Pokémon Company continue not to send it into spaceDeveloper Pocketpair now wants to expand to a full merchandising franchise. Toys are coming! Surely the biggest troll yet?
In collaboration with Sony Music Entertainment, Japanese developer Pocketpair has launched a new company called Palworld Entertainment, Inc. Described as “the company responsible for the licensing activities of”Palworld‘, the goal is (prepare for corporate nonsense) ‘to accelerate the multifaceted global development of Palworld and its further expansion!” In other words: hugs and shit.
It is, if anything, an incredibly slow response to the game’s massive success, which saw a whopping 2.1 million people playing the game simultaneously in January, making it the second most popular game on Steam. ever.
Six months later, that number is now a vastly more modest 90k, but still an impressive finish at a point where most games have faded into the background. Of course, there’s a good chance that the slowness of this response could have been influenced by the then-perceived need to prepare for Nintendo’s notoriously irate lawyers. However, half a year later, not a peep has been heard, with Pocketpair confirming that many former Kotaku EiC Stephen Totilo’s Game File Newsletter. This likely created enough confidence that the game was safe that console rival Sony would be willing to get involved, albeit through a completely different arm of the company.
And yet, well, we can all pretend Palworld isn’t incredibly obvious copying of famous Pokémon, but come onReleasing merchandise based on these animals is Certainly more likely to make the Big N’s ire? Still, merchandise they will, the new company teaming up with Japanese retailer Aniplexfor products not yet announced. They will be available “later”.
This is getting interesting. I honestly don’t understand how Nintendo can sit back and let Palworld Entertainment sell a Bristla plushie on a store shelf next to one of Pokémon’s Bellossom. Or Jormuntide next to Gyarados. Let alone the most infamous Grizzbolt and the almost identical Electabuzz. But Sony Music and Pocketpair clearly think it’s all legally safe.
Well, good luck to all involved, it’s clear that a lot of people are betting big on this ending well.
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