The CEO of Palworld developer Pocketpair has warned fans to expect plenty of “clones” of the game after a new Tencent title was revealed that looks eerily similar.
This isn’t the first time Palworld has been involved in this sort of controversy, having attracted the wrath of Pokémon after the game was released in January. But now, it seems things have gone full circle with Palworld looking set to be emulated.
In a tweet translated by Automaton, via IGN, Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe shared an image of an upcoming mobile and PC game, Auroria, and said “these are incredible times” in reference to mega-rich developers potentially copying or taking inspiration from Palworld.
Mizobe declared “Tencent is already making a Palworld clone game” and claimed “many companies are simultaneously developing mobile clones of Palworld” in China, backed by budgets that are “10 times larger than Palworld’s.”
The image shared by Mizobe looks like a carbon copy of a clip that promoted Palworld before its release, showing Pals helping with tasks at a base, which isn’t a good look for Auroria.
On Steam, Auroria is described as an “open-world, multiplayer, and cooperative sandbox game” where you “survive with your pals”—though in this case, it seems “pals” references playing with friends and not the creatures you collect in Palworld.
At face value, it certainly seems Auroria has taken some inspiration from Palworld, but calling the title a “clone” may be a stretch as it seems to have elements of gameplay that the Pocketpair title does not.
Set for release in Q2 2024, Auroria looks like a mix of Astroneer and Palworld, with both base-building and interstellar travel a focus of the gameplay, whereas the creature collecting element looks minimal.
For now, it’s unclear how this situation will develop and whether Pocketpair will take any action against Auroria, which would be somewhat ironic considering everything that has gone on since Palworld first emerged.
