Internet Reacts To Palworld And Its Massive Success
Initially known as Pokemon with guns, Palworld has set the gaming world on fire by selling millions of copies in a matter of days and fueling internet discourse with AI art accusations. It's even led to Arkane Lyon studio director Dinga Bakaba creating a fascinating thread on X (formerly known as Twitter) about the survival game, touching on its mechanics and lightning-rod aspects.
Bakaba, who was game director on Deathloop, notes upfront that Palworld isn't actually a Pokemon-like and feels more mechanically inspired by Rust and Ark: Survival Evolved. He adds, though, that the title does obviously have similarities to Pokemon, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Fortnite, and more.
Meanwhile, Naughty Dog senior artist Del Walker posted on X that "my gut is telling me Palworld was made nefariously." Another game developer, Rami Ismail, took a more moderate viewpoint by stating: "I don't consider it a clone of Pokemon even remotely, but I super don't love how close some of the Pals are to Pokémon."
That's just the tip of the iceberg for the Palworld discourse, as well. Below is a small sample of social media posts about Palworld, touching on the game's massive success to accusations of asset theft.
3rd highest all-time peak in Steam history! Steam users currently playing #Palworld has exceeded 1.5 million!Thank you so much for making us the 3rd highest concurrently played game on Steam ever!We are working hard to make the game as enjoyable as possible.Thank you! pic.twitter.com/bPsFtAFuM1
— Palworld (@Palworld_EN) January 22, 2024Made a palworld video, did not realize how many youtube commentors were copyright lawyers!
— GrandPooBear (@GrandPOOBear) January 21, 2024In three days Palworld sold more than Final Fantasy 16 did in six days.Incredible for a brand new franchise😤 pic.twitter.com/w2imEh3Y4I
— PeterOvo (@PeterOvo5) January 22, 2024Palworld Execs Brace for Hbomberguy Video https://t.co/RRtTeLFrYn
— Hard Drive (@HardDriveMag) January 21, 2024this entire thread perfectly summarizes a lot of what i see in palworld too. there is no proof that Palworld is just AI generated, and it’s frankly shocking to see so many people just run with it https://t.co/XplVO1XWxp
— Gene Park (@GenePark) January 22, 2024Palworld already has a Pokemon modpic.twitter.com/yPlocKAmlu
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) January 22, 2024Maybe they're brothers? #Palworld#Pokemon#Lycanroc model from SV. pic.twitter.com/KnGSozfJGQ
— byo (@byofrog) January 21, 2024Palworld has already sold over 5 million copies, even though it arrived on Xbox Game Pass this month as well. The survival game has also seen over 1.5 million concurrent players on Steam alone. For more, learn about how multiplayer and cross-play works in Palworld.
