Ex-Palworld designer alleges Pocketpair changed their designs to be more like Pokemon

An ex-Palworld worker claimed to have had their character designs changed to more closely resemble Pokemon without their permission.

Albeit in an admitted “rough” translation of the original comments written in Japanese provided by user Lewtwo, they describe how Pocketpair CEO, Takuro Mizobe, allegedly instructed artists to “Design a creature that would rank in the top 100 Pokemon in terms of popularity.”

Stressing that they didn’t want to “copy anyone,” the designer continued to accuse Pocketpair of changing the “creature I came up with into some sort of chimera design.”

Stating that they had been “holding back” from speaking out for so long for the sake of their contract, the individual continued to accuse Pocketpair of “casually trampling on the feelings of designers who made an effort to avoid plagiarism.”

On September 19, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company confirmed the filing of a lawsuit against Pocketpair for patent infringement.

While it remains unclear what patent the two parties have accused the Palworld studio of infringing upon, it’s worth noting that individual Pokemon designs are protected under copyright, not patent. That being the case, TPC and Nintendo’s legal action is unlikely to be claiming that Pocketpair plagiarized the designs of its Pokemon.

Regardless, news of the lawsuit served as a catalyst prompting the former Pocketpair employee to share their story, stating that they “support a certain large company.”

Released into early access on January 19, Palworld, while fundamentally different from Pokemon gameplay-wise, has repeatedly come under fire over accusations that the designs of its Pals were too overtly similar to the latter franchise.

For more information, check out our timeline of events breaking down every major development and what patent infringement means in the context of this ongoing legal dispute.