It has been a whirlwind of a weekend for Palworld, the Ark-like survival game colloquially called “Pokémon With Guns.” Pocketpair’s latest has already sold over five million copies since launching in Early Access on January 19, and shot to the top of Steam and Twitch charts over the weekend.
Palworld has been a lightning rod for controversy for vast and varied reasons that are in some cases, pretty legitimate, from claims that it’s an edgy meme riffing on a childhood staple to accusations of using AI to create its characters. But since the team claims it’s been recently receiving death threats from people unhappy with the game’s premise, it’s a good time to take a step back and look at the big picture. Let’s break down what’s been going on since Palworld launched, from plagiarism and AI accusations to what its success means for Pokémon fans and the franchise’s future. Palworld is not a threat to Pokémon Here at Exp