Palworld Developers Are Receiving Death Threats Following Pokemon Rip-Off Allegations

The team behind Palworld are getting death threats after people began claiming the game is a rip-off of Pokemon. Last week, a brand new game was released seemingly out of nowhere and it has taken the gaming industry by storm. In a matter of days, the game has sold over 5 million copies, quickly becoming one of the best selling games out there and as a result, it may become one of the best selling games of 2024… and we’re not even through January yet. The game managed to find its appeal because it’s essentially a big open-world multiplayer game that allows you to catch Pokemon-like creatures with guns. It’s easy to see why that would be exciting to a lot of people and it’s extremely well made. However, some have not taken too kindly to Palworld wearing its inspirations on its sleeve so boldly.

The game has been accused of blatantly ripping off of Pokemon, even down to the design of some of the creatures. Some folks have had strong words against the game and think it wouldn’t necesarrily have the success that it’s having if it wasn’t riding the coattails of the Nintendo property. On top of that, some people have even been sending death threats to developers at studio Pocketpair. The community manager, Bucky, revealed in the game’s Discord server that he has been overwhelmed with DMs and emails, but will not be responding to the death threats or general threats to the company.

“Frantically working through all my DMs and emails! I promise!” Bucky said. “However, you’ll excuse me if I skip over the death threats, threats to the company and massively outlandish claims. If you’re capable of writing like an actual human being though, I’ll reply asap!”

Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe also confirmed that artists at the company were receiving death threats and noted that he would appreciate it if people stopped “slandering” the Palworld developers.

“Currently, we are receiving slanderous comments against our artists, and we are seeing tweets that appear to be death threats,” Mizobe said. “I have received a variety of opinions regarding Palworld, but all productions related to Palworld are supervised by multiple people, including myself, and I am responsible for the production. I would appreciate it if you would refrain from slandering the artists involved in Palworld.”

Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion about any piece of media… but don’t threaten anyone’s lives. Palworld is still just a video game and it’s not worth threatening someone over.