Former Pokémon legal officer is "surprised" Palworld got this far

Don McGowan, The Pokémon Company's chief legal officer from 2008 to 2020, has commented on Palworld's massively successful launch, saying it looks like a ripoff and he is surprised the game made it to release.

The details:

• McGowan was asked about "Pokémon with guns" when speaking with GameFile, and he expressed surprise that Nintendo and TPC had shown no interest in the title. "This looks like the usual ripoff nonsense that I would see a thousand times a year when I was Chief Legal Officer of Pokémon," said McGowan. "I'm just surprised it got this far."

• Palworld has been accused of stealing Pokémon designs and using AI to create monsters. This has yet to be proven, but examples of striking similarities between the two franchises have been shared on social media, including Palworld's "Grintale," which has a face nearly identical to that of Galarian Meowth.

• When asked to comment on the title, Nintendo told Bloomberg that it would not comment on "individual cases," while TPC declined to comment at all. The companies have already taken action against Palworld modders, as a fan decided to create a mod featuring Pokémon characters like Ash and Electabuzz, which has since been removed.

• Palworld has been an enormous success, selling over six million copies in less than a week. It has also risen to the top of Steam's most played games ever, and the Xbox and Game Pass versions are likely to have an even more impressive player count.

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