“Pokemon with guns”: Palworld’s Dance with Copyright Infringement
If one were to hear that a popular video game consisting of capturing animal-like creatures and, subsequently, using them to battle others in the world was one of the most popular releases of the year thus far, they would probably assume only one thing: Pokemon. But — perhaps surprisingly — the pop culture juggernaut and legendary video game series is not what is being discussed here.
A New Challenger Approaches
Indeed, that game is Palworld, a new title from an obscure Japanese indie studio named Pocketpair that was launched through early access on January 19, 2024.[1] The success of Palworld has been shocking, to put it mildly— as of January 31st, 2024, the game had over nineteen million total players, an extraordinary milestone for any new release, let alone an original intellectual property.[2] As mentioned earlier, in addition to capturing creatures called “Pals” and using them in combat, players also collect resources to build and maintain their base of operations, meshing concepts from the popular survival genre with some of the familiar conceits from Pokemon to outstanding effect.[3] Humorous as the idea is, this phrase also exemplifies a brewing storm of controversy over Palworld’s inspiration from the Pokemon series, particularly in its portrayal of the “Pals” themselves, who look eerily similar to the iconic creatures in Pokemon.
The Chief Executive of Pocketpair, Takuro Mizobe, quickly responded to the criticisms. In a statement to Automaton, he insisted that “We make our games very seriously, and we have absolutely no intention of infringing upon the intellectual property of other companies.” [4] Nevertheless, some have accused Pocketpair of using AI to plagiarize some of the popular Pokemon designs, despite no evidence of such plagiarism being publicly available.[5] At first, many were surprised at Nintendo and the Pokemon Company’s initial silence with respect to such copyright accusations, as Nintendo is typically litigious and protective of their intellectual property.[6] In this instance, one would expect Nintendo to take action considering the other chief controversy with the gameplay is the “Pals” (who resemble the iconic pokemon) are often killed and eaten by players – mechanics that go against the family friendly image that Nintendo has cultivated over the years.[7] However, the Pokemon Company later released a statement, writing that “[W]e have received many inquiries regarding another company’s game released in January 2024. We have not granted any permission for the use of Pokemon intellectual property or assets in that game. We intend to investigate and take appropriate measures.”[8]
Could a Copyright Claim Succeed?
But despite the threatening statement, what are the odds that Palworld actually infringed on Pokemon’s intellectual property? Of course, a core principle of copyright law is not protection of the idea, but rather protection of the idea’s expression.[9] While Nintendo and the Pokemon Company certainly own the specific character designs portrayed in their games, they don’t own the idea of capturing cute creatures and using them to battle others in the world around them.[10] Moreover, while the “look and feel” of games may be protectable, Palworld’s case is helped by the Merger Doctrine, which disfavors copyright protection where doing so would give the copyright holder a monopoly on the idea.[11] At the same time, the Pokemon Company would likely stress the similarities in character design between pokemon and the “Pals,” which — admittedly— are very similar. In a post on X comparing the creatures in both games, 3D models were used to find that, in some cases, the characters shared nearly exact proportions to one another.[12]
Ultimately, it will likely be an uphill battle for Nintendo and the Pokemon Company to succeed in a case of copyright infringement, especially considering that many other games – from Digimon to Pokemon itself – have used similar aesthetic styles.[13] Even if Nintendo and the Pokemon Company were to file a claim for trademark infringement instead of copyright, an argument can be made that, while the “Pals” may share similar visual traits to pokemon, there is little room for confusion as to which creature comes from which game and, thus, no harm has resulted to Nintendo or the Pokemon Company.[14] Nevertheless, if Nintendo and the Pokemon Company can prove that actual copying was involved, there could still be a chance that the enormously successful “Pokemon with guns” is, eventually, shot down.
Footnotes
