When a game becomes popular enough, it often results in knock-offs meant to fool those that don’t know any better. Palworld is the latest example, as the App Store and Google Play Store have both seen cheap imitations added using the game’s official assets. On Twitter, Palworld developer Pocket Pair has addressed these mobile apps, letting fans know that they are not affiliated with the game, and “that downloading these apps may lead to the leakage of personal information stored on your smartphone or to fraud.” Pocket Pair has also noted that it’s trying to get these knock-offs removed.
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“There is no Palworld application for phones. Apps using names and product images such as “パルワールド” and “Palworld” are appearing on the AppStore and Google Play, but they are not affiliated with our company in any way,” the game’s official Twitter account reads. “We have reported this issue to Apple, which operates the App Store, and Google, which operates Google Play.”
Palworld Platforms
As of this writing, Palworld is only available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. Anyone interested in playing the actual game will have to do so on one of those platforms. It’s possible that an official version of Palworld could come to mobile devices in the future, but versions like the one found right here are fake, and should not be downloaded or purchased.
The App Store and Google Play Store have both seen a glut of imitations and shovelware released over the years. Often these types of apps are released to trick younger players. Sometimes they’ll have similar names, or the listings will contain screen shots that aren’t true to the actual gameplay. It’s worth noting that the App Store has a ton of Pokemon knock-offs that can be found, many of which use The Pokemon Company’s assets without permission. If those haven’t been removed, it’s hard to say whether Pocket Pair will be able to get these Palworld knock-offs taken down.
Palworld‘s Success
It’s not surprising that Palworld is seeing these types of imitations given how well the game has performed in a short amount of time. Since releasing on January 19th, Palworld has already sold more than 8 million copies on Steam alone, and has rocketed to the top of the platform’s most-played games; as of this writing, the game currently has more than 1 million people playing.
While Palworld has clearly found a lot of success on Steam, it should be noted it was also a day one release on Xbox Game Pass, and it seems to be doing quite well on consoles, too. It remains to be seen whether it will be able to maintain this level of popularity, but clearly Palworld is off to a very strong start!
Are you surprised that Palworld already has imitators? Have you played the game yet? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
