Ever since the open-world survival crafting game Palworld launched for the Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC via Steam and Xbox Game Pass on 19 January 2024, it has managed not only to reach 3 million sold worldwide but also exceed a whopping one million concurrent players on Steam alone. That’s an impressive achievement and one that only a few other games have managed to achieve in the past.

However, there’s also a current controversy going on where Palworld developer Pocket Pair has been accused by many of having allegedly used generative AI to create assets in their game, including the many monsters which share a lot of suspicious similarities with the creatures in the iconic Pokemon franchise. While no one has been able to provide definitive proof for the accusation, many have pointed out the similarities on social media:

Palworld absolutely stole Pokemon designs. The game may be fun but I will not sit here and pretend that they aren’t art thieves. Theres inspiration and then there’s blatant ripoffs.

Idc about a big company like Pokemon losing money, I do care ppl are supporting AI art and theft pic.twitter.com/34Vy6VmdLz

— JessieFrance (@Jessiefrance103) January 19, 2024

Palworld might have too many ?'s for me.

The company that made it promotes crypto/nfts and has a history of using ai for their games.

Tell me this doesn't just look like they threw Luxray into ai and it came out like this? Several other designs are very similar to Pokémon too. pic.twitter.com/yhONh4hq7d

— Dyylas ?? ????? (@DylanDyylas) January 18, 2024

I was super excited to jump into Palworld but all the evidence I'm seeing makes it pretty probable that the game is using AI generative imaging to create the designs for their monsters.

Ethically I can't cover this game until I see evidence to the contrary. So disappointing. pic.twitter.com/C0aiKmEmsY

— Miabyte?? ????? ? ? KupoCon & ??FF7 Rebirth (@miabyte) January 20, 2024

Some have also pointed out how the CEO of Palworld developer Pocket Pair, Takuro Mizobe, has previously posted on social media about how he supports and even praises the use of AI to generate content.

Heads up to anyone thinking of supporting/playing Palworld who also cares about genAI issues… The CEO of that studio is full speed ahead on generative AI, frequently promotes it and tries to push its use in his studio. Even made a game focused entirely around it using SD. pic.twitter.com/6fwvzhh6g7

— Invertex (@invert_x) January 19, 2024

And this also sounds suspicious, if true.

Tons of stuff going around about Palworld stealing designs, and supporting AI, but also I screenshot this straight from the Pocket Pair site — basically it says that they can use your content without your permission for marketing and such. And that's… really something. pic.twitter.com/IXHixZIHxm

— Katskratchh (@Katskratchh) January 21, 2024

Pocket Pair also has a history of using AI in games, especially in AI Art Imposter. In that game, players assume the role of “a progressive artist who commands AI to generate images”. You can find the game on Steam here.

Again, nothing has been conclusively proven about whether or not Pocket Pair used AI to create assets in Palworld. Until there is more concrete proof or evidence, we’ll have to take it all with a grain of salt.

In the meantime, if you are planning to play the game or are interested in doing so, head on over here for our beginner’s guide on Palworld.