‘Pokemon’-inspired ‘Palworld’ announced during Indie Live Expo

Palworld, a Pokémon-inspired multiplayer survival game, was announced yesterday during the ongoing Indie Live Expo event.

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Developed by Pocketpair, Inc. Palworld is an open-world survival crafting game that features mysterious creatures known as the ‘Pal’.

The game’s official Steam trailer shows players building, fighting and gliding across the field in gameplay that looks similar to The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, Fortnite and Pokémon.

Palworld. CREDIT: Pocketpair, Inc.

The Pokémon series has always been fairly safe in its approach to the relationship between Pokémon and humans. Palworld seems to be a little darker, leaning more on capitalistic themes of forced labour and factory automation.

The game’s official description reads: “You can have a large number of Pals work on the construction. Don’t worry; labor laws won’t be applied to Pals.”

Further into the description, the developers state players can “build a factory and place Pals in it. They will work forever as long as they’re fed until the end of their lifetime”.

Twitter users have been quick to pick up on the game’s darker take on pocket monsters, commenting on the themes of forced labour and the inclusion of guns.

Look at sadness in their eyes pic.twitter.com/fuGQ5QgFvt

— Kenny Lomas (@KendrickLomarr) June 6, 2021

So you want a realistic crime game with guns that's also completely off the wall and swarming with magic creatures? pic.twitter.com/6JUDHowzEX

— Jay Tremblay (@JeanFrancois13) June 6, 2021

Please reconsider the guns??? They're so out of place..

— nita. (@nitahimechan) June 5, 2021

Animal rights charity PETA has condemned Pokémon on a number of occasions. Most recently the charity released a parody version of the game in 2019, which coincided with the release of Pokémon Sword & Shield.

While you're waiting for #PokemonSwordShield, play PETA's parody: Pokemon Black and Blue https://t.co/AxmSxy9PrZ #PokemonDay #NintendoDirect pic.twitter.com/42cMBta7qz

— PETA (@peta) February 27, 2019

Pocketpair, Inc. didn’t provide a release date for the Palworld. However, according to Steam the game will release some time in 2022.

In other news, Nintendo announced the official date and time for its E3 2021 showcase this week, along with details on its Treehouse Live event.

Nintendo has confirmed that the Direct will focus exclusively on Nintendo Switch software releasing in 2021.

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