Pokémon controversy: Difference between revisions

Upon it's release, the game was put under intense scrutiny as members of social media accused the game of plagiarizing Pokémon's aesthetic, particularly regarding ''Palworld's'' list of 111 "Pal" creatures at the time of its early access release.<ref name=111ListComparisons>[https://archive.is/F66QC Thread by Cecilia Fae comparing the list of "Pals" in ''Palworld'' to Pokémon designs]</ref><ref name=>[https://archive.is/361Sg Post by Acerola_t about Palworld's impact on the larger industry as a whole, referring to it as an "asset flip game".]</ref> This included criticism towards ''Pocketpair's'' other releases; such as ''{{wp|Craftopia}}'' and its similarities to ''{{wp|The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild}};''<ref name=Craftopia>[https://archive.is/5lnwC Tweet criticizing the similarities between Craftopia and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.]</ref> ''{{wp|Never Grave: The Witch and The Curse}}'' and its similarities to ''{{wp|Hollow Knight}};'' and ''{{wp|AI: Art Imposter}}'' and its similarities to ''{{wp|Among Us}}'' and ''Gartic Phone,'' which came under increased fire as a result of the game's focus around generative AI artwork, due to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence_art#Criticism,_issues_and_controversy existing controversy surrounding the topic.]<ref name=>[https://casetext.com/case/andersen-v-stability-ai-ltd/case-details A 2023 lawsuit between Sarah Andersen, et al. v. Stability AI regarding the use of AI generative artwork.]</ref> This led to a response by large influencers that enjoyed ''Palworld'', causing increased debate about the title and its alleged morality regarding the artists behind the Pokémon series.<ref name=>[https://archive.is/MzpQu A thread criticizing ''Twitch'' streamer ''Asmongold'' for his opinions on AI generated artwork and the artists behind both ''Palworld'' and the Pokémon series.]</ref>  

Several users pointed out similarities between the Pal models found in ''Palworld'' and the Pokémon models from games such as [[Pokémon Sun and Moon]], accusing ''Pocketpair'' of plagiarism. The Pal ''"Azurobe"'' came under particular scrutiny for appearing to be an edit of {{p|Serperior}} and {{p|Primarina}}.<ref name=PalworldAzurobe>[https://archive.is/zEcmm Comparison made between ''Palworld's'' ''"Azurobe"'' and Pokémon such as Serperior and Primarina.]</ref> One user comparing the models was accused of fabricating evidence due to uniformly scaling the model to make the comparison easier to see within a 3D modelling program,<ref name=PalworldAzurobeFabrication>[https://archive.is/PghBU A thread incorrectly accusing the fabrication of evidence due to uniformly scaling ''Azurobe'' and Serperior's models to be the same size.]</ref> though this accusation was chastised further by industry professionals as uniformly scaling a model does not edit the mesh in any way.<ref name=PalworldModelScale>[https://archive.is/9OMLq Post chastising those accusing fabrication by uniform model scaling.]</ref> Other industry professionals pointed out that ''Azurobe'' and Serperior shared certain bone chains that have the same amount, and using a program to move them to match the same positions resulted in a near identical topology.<ref name=PalworldModelTopology>[https://archive.is/VEJtH Post pointing out the identical amount of bone chains between Serperior and Azurobe.]</ref>

The release of ''Palworld'' stoked further controversy surrounding recent entries in the series such as [[Pokémon Scarlet and Violet]], which was frequently compared to the game, particularly regarding its visuals,<ref name=>[https://archive.is/geCqM Tweet from company OperaGX comparing the visuals of ''Palworld'' and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.]</ref> with some arguing that ''Palworld's'' sudden success could prompt better game design from GAME FREAK themselves by virtue of competition in the monster collection space.<ref name=>[https://archive.is/NSKoe Post by ''InfernoOmni'' arguing that Pokémon fans should want Palworld to be successful in order to force GAME FREAK to improve the quality of their games]</ref><ref name=>[https://archive.is/Mxmjb Post from ''YourRAGE'' about the "sickening" response that Pokémon fans have to modern Pokémon releases.]</ref><ref name=>[https://archive.is/wip/kClAL Post from ''The Act Man'' about hopes for ''Palworld's'' success to push GAME FREAK to release games that aren't a "complete embarrassment"]</ref> Additional criticism against ''Palworld'' was rebuked by those claiming that the game was intentionally a parody of Pokémon,<ref name=>[https://youtu.be/JxN2nnlI4-0?t=1482 Video by ''InfernoOmni'' erroneously commenting on how ''Palworld'' was a parody, and therefore legally immune.]</ref><ref name=>[https://archive.is/arjhw Post from a user claiming that ''Palworld's'' designs are an intentional parody of Pokémon's.]</ref><ref name=>[https://archive.is/VYwVr Post from YouTuber ''YourMovieSucks'' about confusion surrounding the plagiarism accusations and that Fair Use would protect the game from any legal trouble, even though the Fair Use doctrine does not exist in Japanese law]</ref> though interviews in 2021 from the game's director mention that any comparisons to Pokémon were "lucky" and that they "totally didn't intend it."<ref name=>[https://archive.is/3ZXZS Interview between Takuro Mizobe and TheGamer in 2021 about how any comparisons to Pokémon were totally unintentional.]</ref> Criticism against the game was met with memes chastising Pokémon fans for alleged brand loyalty.<ref name=PalworldBillionDollarCompany>[https://archive.is/WPSh1 Tweet from company OperaGX chastising Pokémon fans for seemingly defending a billion-dollar company.]</ref>

Additional scrutiny<ref name=MizobeAIScrutiny>[https://archive.is/o8kDN Evidence of scrutiny against Mizobe's use of ChatGPT.]</ref> was levied at game director Takuro Mizobe<ref name=PalworldCredits>[https://archive.is/HCmeJ The ''Palworld'' website, which showcases the credits for the game]</ref> for use of generative AI during the game's development,<ref name=MizobeAIDevelopment>[https://archive.is/dJXb5 Mizobe posting in 2023 about using ChatGPT to develop ''Palworld'' (Japanese: '''"パルワールドのオープニング デモの仕様、なんかいい感じ に作っておいて下さい!!"''' "Please make some good specifications for Palworld's opening demo!!")]</ref> as well as posts from the director's past praise of AI generative artwork to create [[Fakemon]] in the style of [[Ken Sugimori]]'s artwork.<ref name=PalworldAISuigmori>[https://archive.is/hnkNY Article summarizing Takuro Mizobe's past tweets about AI generative artwork, including those about using AI to generate Pokémon]</ref> This was in addition to further posts by Mizobe about the use of generative AI being used to circumvent {{wp|copyright|copyright law}}, another concern held by those on social media.<ref name=PalworldAISuigmori></ref> Mizobe has also gone on record in an interview with {{wp|WIRED}} saying that his approach to game creation is founded on merging ideas together; not dissimilar "to that of a {{wp|mashup}}" in musical terms.<ref name=PalworldWIRED>[https://archive.is/5dCyw Interview between Takuro Mizobe and WIRED.]</ref> In an interview with Automaton Media, Mizobe mentioned that ''Palworld'' cleared legal reviews prior to it's release with no objections.<ref name=PalworldLegalReviews>[https://archive.is/m2mCu Interview between ''Palworld'' director Takuro Mizobe and Automaton about the game's legal reviews.]</ref> and that ''Palworld'' was not at all similar to Pokémon. This is contradicted by a different interview with the same publication, where Mizobe noted that the developers directly referenced Pokémon as a "great predecessor", further stating that he was impressed by games like [[Pokémon Legends: Arceus]] and [[Pokémon Scarlet and Violet]].<ref name=PalworldGreatPredecessor>[https://archive.is/tPIgh Interview between ''Palworld'' director Takuro Mizobe and Automaton about the game's relation to Pokémon]</ref>

The controversy was commented on by various professionals from all walks of the video game industry. VGC spoke to two anonymous experienced AAA game artists claiming that the model comparisons done by other users were effectively a smoking gun for a hypothetical legal battle between the companies that own the rights to Pokémon against ''Pocketpair,'' with a senior character artist adding that they would "stand in court to testify as an expert on this."<ref name=PalworldPlagiarismAccusations>[https://archive.is/hidNJ Interview by VGC talking about ''Palworld's'' plagiarism accusations]</ref> ''{{wp|Keitai Denjū Telefang}}'' and ''{{wp|Monster Crown}}'' designer [https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=68358 Saiko Takaki] wrote a thread commenting on the history of Pokémon plagiarism, where she claimed that her work on ''Telefang'' was designed to not be similar to Pokémon's, with ''Palworld's'' designs "clearly adding or subtracting" from existing ones, though noted that she had no comments to make on the actual gameplay, saying it "seemed fun, which is a shame."<ref name=SaikoTakaki>[https://archive.is/jEHdh Thread by ''Telefang'' and ''Monster Crown'' designer Saiko Takaki discussing ''Palworld''.]</ref> [[The Pokémon Company International]]'s Ex-Chief Legal Officer [[Dan McGowan]], who was the head of the company's legal team between 2008 to 2020, told ''GamesRadar'' that he was "surprised it got this far", and that it "looks like the usual ripoff nonsense that I would see a thousand times a year".<ref name=PalworldExTPCLegalOfficer>[https://archive.is/pEm7N Interview between ex-Pokémon CLO Dan McGowan and GamesRadar.]</ref>