Palworld has taken the world by storm, with seven million copies sold in the last five days since release, at least at last count, that will have gone up now. Alongside a ridiculous sales record, it’s dethroned Elden Ring, Skyrim and Counter-Strike, amongst others, and it’s dominating Xbox Game Pass as well!
That said, along with huge sales, the game has garnered a lot of criticism from various areas. Some fans have been highlighting the potential copyright issues the game will have, with the clear comparisons to Pokemon, and now we have the animal rights organization PETA wading in and adding to the woes of the indie game.
Palworlds vs PETA – An Unnecessary Fight?
It’s no secret that PETA, the animal rights organization, whilst fighting a good fight, does choose some rather unorthodox methods at times to get their message across. And after reaching out to Insider Gaming, this may be added to that list.
Palworld is a game of many genres, from Pokemon-esque collecting of ‘Pals’, to survival and open-world mechanics that’ll bring to mind the likes of Day Z and other base-building games. However, PETA specifically has an issue with the gameplay mechanic where you eat the Pals you’ve fought, and captured, to survive:
PETA has already heard from many Palworld fans who have no interest in eating ‘Pals’ and want a vegan guide created for the game. It’s ‘Veganuary’ after all, and gamers want to help animals by eating vegan in their game worlds and outside.
It should be mentioned that this isn’t the first game that features some sort of capture, kill, and consume mechanic with regard to animals. It’s been a staple of the survival genre for years, and in more realistic terms than the over-the-top Pals inhabiting Palworld.
A cynic could argue that PETA is choosing now to speak out as it’s the most talked about game in the world, and a talking point for everyone, gamer or otherwise, it seems. It could also be said that any springboard for a good message is a good thing.
One thing that is certain though, is that Palworld isn’t likely to worry too much about this particular battle with PETA, especially when presented with a potential lawsuit from Nintendo and The Pokemon Company on the horizon. Much has been said about the similarities between the storied and well-known Pokemon franchise and Palworld, but until now the Japanese company was oddly silent regarding the controversy.
Clearly, that was only to figure out the right path to take, and in a statement today announced their intent to launch an investigation into any potential copyright issues or infringements. Unfortunately for Pocketpair, the developers of Palworld, Nintendo has some deep pockets and significantly more pulling power in the video game world than PETA.
What do you make of all this? Is Palworld promoting violence to animals? Is it in poor taste? How about the copyright controversy? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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