Palworldwas only released in early access on January 19, but it’s already taking the gaming world by storm. With more than two million players onSteamright now, it’s safe to say that there is an audience for a more adult-orientatedPokemon-like, or at least a monster-catching game that also borrows from other genres.
Now, with Palworld’s popularity still at its peak, it looks like the developer wants to capitalise on this. In a picture shared by Pocket Pair CEO Takuro Mizobe, we can see that Palworld merch already exists - and there’s even some kind of Palworld card game. While it looks like Pocket Pair is keeping it to itself right now, it suggests that official Palworld merch might be on the way, following such a successful launch month.
As spotted byPalworld Updates, the image with the merch on display was shared earlier this week, giving us a peek at a couple of figurines and cards from an apparent tabletop game.
There’s been no word on where players can pick up anything that’s shown off in the image, or when it will be made available. Still, it would make sense for Pocket Pair to strike while the iron is hot, as there’s no telling how long these player figures will last throughout early access.
Of course, the success of Palworld hasn’t come without drawbacks. Right off the bat, the developers were accused ofcopying Pokemon designs, with some going as far as suggesting that the Pal designs came from an AI art generator.
Pocket Pair has hit back against these allegations, with the CEO saying, “We make our games very seriously, and we have absolutely no intention of infringing upon the intellectual property of other companies”.Some developers said they had received death threatsas the issue was debated online.
As the discourse continued,Nintendo eventually issued a statement, confirming that it was aware of the issue.
“We intend to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokemon,” the statement reads. “We will continue to cherish and nurture each and every Pokemon and its world, and work to bring the world together through Pokemon in the future.”
So far, no legal threats have been made. And of course, if Pocket Pair is already thinking about releasing merch, it’s probably fairly confident that it isn’t about to get hit with a lawsuit in relation to the Pal designs. That would probably only exacerbate issues, given that Pokemon has a wide range of merch itself.
