New Pokémon/Palworld Clone Accused Of Stealing Pokémon Fan-Art

The Pokémon franchise shows no signs of stopping. We're well on our way to Generation 10 next year, and more spinoffs are set to arrive before then. Plus, Pokopia is stunning people everywhere with how good it is.

That said, there are still plenty of clone projects out there, some of which are currently gaining the ire of Nintendo's legal department. As spotted by Dextero, it seems the upcoming game Pickmon might have more problems than just dealing with Nintendo.

Pokémon Fans Are Accusing Pickmon Of Stolen Art

It's Not A Great Start

Developed by PocketGame and published by NetworkGo, Pickmon is exactly what it sounds like: a dubious clone of Pokémon. Here's the brief description to give you an idea of what to expect: "Dive into a vast, uncharted continent filled with ancient civilizations and mysterious creatures called 'Pickmon.' In this multiplayer open-world survival crafter, you’ll team up with your Pickmon to fight, farm, and build industrial empires while thwarting a shadowy organization's plot."

Other than the name, it sounds innocous right? Well, not quite. But in a twist, it's also seemingly cloning elements of Palworld, which is currently wrapped up in a legal battle with Nintendo. Notably, the game's title image features a Charizard clone, a Meganium clone, and a character resembling a Palworld Pal shooting a minigun. Elements of Zelda: Breath of the Wild ​​​​​​are also present, including the design of the main hero character.

It's not just big-name IP that Pickmon is being accused of stealing from. Fan artist Pokejayjay alleges that the company stole one of their designs on X when responding to a fan who called out the studio for ripping off the Pokémon Ceruledge: "No, it’s literally my fan design for Mega Ceruledge stolen right there," he explains.

Another artist, el.psy.fake, felt the same. Here's what they alleged on Instagram: "Pickmon, an upcoming game that’s been accused of ripping off designs from other artists and famous franchises like Pokémon, has also stolen one of my designs. They didn’t even try to change something and make it a bit less obvious."

Pickmon Is The Latest In A Long Line Of Clones

Pokemon Clones Will Never End

Given how close some of the designs are to existing Pokémon, it's hard to believe that Pickmon even made it this far, and has an official Steam page that's still active as of the time of publication. But then again, people said the same about Palworld, and that's still up and running, plus it's getting a spinoff at some point this year.

The idea of catching and raising pocket monsters is a mechanic many publishers have toyed with, and it's not completely unique to Pokémon (just look at the Monster Rancher franchise). But in recent decades, it's had a chokehold on the genre, and many developers see fit to replicate the formula a bit too closely for many fans' liking.