Palworld is a survival, action-adventure game created and published by Pocket Pair, a Japanese game developer. This game is open-world, and as you travel through the world, you will capture creatures called Pals. As well as capturing these Pals you can eliminate them, and when you do, they drop materials that you can use to help progress your base. Not only that, you can farm materials by mining for stone or lumbering for wood.
There has been lots of controversy around Palworld being accused of promoting animal cruelty. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has made its voice heard in accusing Palworld developers. There have even been fans writing to PETA, saying they have no interest in eating Pals and want a vegan guide created by the game.
Cliff Bleszinski pitched medieval Pokémon with dragons
Cliff Bleszinski took to social media platform X to announce that he had pitched a similar game to Palworld to Epic game producers many years ago when he worked for Epic Game Inc. He pitched the idea for a game that was along the lines of Pokémon but with baby dragons. when he took to X, he said the following:
“Palworld’s success kinda validates my pitch that was turned down at Epic many years ago – medieval Pokémon with baby dragons instead.”
I wonder if this is a dig at Epic Games Inc. There is no doubt that there are many fans out there who would love this game just as much as they love Palworld.
Who is Cliff Bleszinski?
Many of you may not know who Cliff Bleszinski is. He is an American video game designer. He started his career at the age of fifteen, when he programmed in the visual basics for his first game, The Palace of Deceit. The second version later came out when he was sixteen. As he progressed, he was given his start at Epic Games in 1992 after submitting his game, Dare to Dream, to the company’s CEO, This game was not successful, but it led to Bleszinksi working on Jazz Jackrabbit, which became Epic’s best-selling game at the time. Blezsinksi’s career continued to flourish, he then became the lead designer on three installments of the Gears of War franchise. His career came to an end at Epic Games Inc.
When Blezsinksi announced he was leaving Epic Games Inc in 2012, he said he wanted a break as he had been creating video games since he was a teenager. Later, when he announced he was coming out of retirement, he had done many interviews, but in one interview with Destructoid, an online gaming news website, he said that he honestly thought he was done, and towards the end of working for Epic Games, he seemed to say that no one wanted to hear his ideas. He said the following in the interview:
“I could pitch the most amazing idea to anybody back when I was at Epic toward the end, and they’d be like ‘I don’t buy it”
Blezsinski then came out of retirement to start creating video games again and became the co-founder of Boss Key Productions in 2014. A year later, Bleszinski announced an arena shooter called Lawbreakers. After a few more years, Boss Key Productions closed in 2018 due to a lack of funds from the games they created. After the closure of Boss Key, Beszinsi moved into theatre production, and in April 2023, he announced that he was creating a comic book series called Scrapper in collaboration with Alex De Campi.
What do you think about all this though? Could Cliffy B be onto something with his initial, years-old pitch? Would you have played it? Let us know in the comments!
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