Palworld Clones Force The Game's Creator To Speak Out

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and it's also not a bad way to make a name in the video game business. Gamers were blown away earlier this year by "Palworld," which gained a ton of attention by including creatures that are basically Pokémon clones and giving them guns, labor camps, and a proclivity for cannibalism. The ensuing discourse helped the game rise to fame, but its solid mechanics, vibrant open world, and multiplayer components kept gamers locked into the "Palworld" experience. Now history is repeating itself.

Tencent Holdings is one of the biggest publishers in China, and two of its developers are reportedly working on mobile games in the style of "Palworld." There aren't many details on the in-development games just yet, but apparently they'll feature open worlds, survival mechanics, and pets that players can capture and train. From the looks of things, Tencent seems to be hoping that it can recreate the "Palworld" sensation. Of course, fans know that there's more to "Palworld" than most people assume. Despite looking a lot like "Pokémon," the game really does have its own identity, and the fact that it was created by a development team as small as Pocketpair is beyond impressive. That said, Tencent's new games do sound like clones of a clone, and the conversation around these new games has caused Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe to speak up with his own thoughts.

Takuro Mizobe initially responded to the reports of Tencent eyeing "Palworld" as a model for future games with a statement on X (formerly Twitter). "Tencent is already making a Palworld clone game! In China, many companies are simultaneously developing mobile clones of Palworld ... These are incredible times," wrote Mizobe (translation via Automaton). That statement got picked up by a few news outlets and his tone was seemingly misinterpreted. Specifically, Mizobe wanted to comment on a post from IGN that read, "After 'Palworld' was accused of ripping off 'Pokémon,' its CEO has accused other companies of making 'Palworld' clones." 

In a new response, Mizobe clarified his somewhat surprising take on the news about Tencent: He claims he's not bothered in the slightest. Mizobe wrote, "To 'accuse' someone of something, means to say they are doing something wrong. I don't think what Tencent is doing is wrong." Mizobe went on to say that he's actually excited to see a massive company like Tencent is looking to Pocketpair for inspiration.

To "accuse" someone of something, means to say they are doing something wrong.
I don't think what Tencent is doing is wrong.

I'm proud that other companies want to make games like Palworld. The industry historically innovates when we borrow ideas from games we love.

I'm… https://t.co/iTUd2dvCzl

— Takuro Mizobe | Palworld (@urokuta_ja) April 17, 2024

"The industry historically innovates when we borrow ideas from games we love," Mizobe wrote. You could read that as both a statement on the latest news about Tencent and as another sly defense against the accusations that "Palworld" is nothing more than a "'Pokémon" rip-off. Mizobe has a point, though. Many new games are essentially iterations on things we've seen before, and this latest development seems to prove that "Palworld" can stand on its own two feet.

Regardless of your thoughts on "Palworld," Pocketpair deserves some serious recognition. The small studio shook up the industry by creating an experience that mashes together successful features from multiple genres like a sort of video game mixtape. Even if you think that "Palworld" isn't a particularly original game, it's overall approach definitely is.

Time will tell if Tencent's massive resources will be able to recreate the hype around an unexpected indie darling, but whether or not the publisher succeeds, we're clearly going to be getting pet-centric survival games for quite a while. As other games continue to try and piggyback off the success of "Palworld," the original not-so-original game continues to evolve. There are tons of features we still desperately need in "Palworld," and Pocketpair is already charting a path forward that includes new content, new mechanics, and new ways to engage with the multiplayer aspect of the game.