Over the weekend, hit Early Access monster collecting title Palworld faced allegations from some that it was using generative AI to create its collectible monsters. While the allegations have caused an uproar on social media, they may actually be unfounded based on tentative research by some journalists.
Palworld gained massive traction over the past week. Despite the initial impressions of the game being just "Pokemon with guns" — or possibly because of them — the game has found a large following, online. As of reporting time, the game has the current highest player count for a paid game on Steam (though not historically, that honor still belongs to Player Unknown's Battlegrounds prior to it going free-to-play).
However, the similarity Palworld's monster designs to those from Game Freak's Pokemon franchise have led some people to accuse the game of not just plagiarism, but of using generative AI to create the designs.
Generative AI has become a touchy subject in certain communities, such as within game development. Many workers in the industry have become wary of generative AI with the sense that studio heads may turn to the technology to develop in-game assets and content instead of hiring artists and developers.
In Palworld's case, the accusations of generative AI use were further strengthened after it came out that Takuro Mizobe, CEO of the game's developer Pocket Pair, was seemingly in favor of generative AI.
However, some games journalists and content creators have since come out in the game's defense. On X, formerly Twitter, the Washington Post's Gene Park has been posting about the game, pointing out that there's no proof that the game was developed with generative AI. As part of this, he quotes a thread from Arkane Lyon co-creative director Dinga Bakaba on how much work it takes to create even something that looks derivative of another game, such as Palworld.
Meanwhile, Forbes' Paul Tassi has been directly replying other X posters' accusations of the game using generative AI. Here, Tassi points out that the accusations stem only from Pocket Pair's CEO mentioning supporting AI, including Mizobe tweeting in 2022 about a Buzzfeed article on creating Pokemon with AI.
Other creators who have come to the game's defense include YouTube comedian Mightykeef, has also pointed out the lack of proof that the game is made with generative AI. In addition, he stated that most people claiming that it does are simply "regurgitating" misinformation from social media. (Read: YouTube to require creators to label AI content)
Meanwhile, vtuber FlamencoTV has pointed out that even the accounts accusing the game of using AI have admitted to not having any proof of such. In addition, they've also debunked the claim that the game is allowed to not disclose the use of AI on Steam — in fact, Steam requires that generative AI use be disclosed.
To add to this, others have since pointed out that the initial reveal trailer for Palworld dates back to 2021, a few years before generative AI became considered decent enough for mainstream use. The 2021 trailer (hosted on Gematsu's channel) has since been used in community notes added to claims about Palworld being developed with AI.
That said, none of these offer conclusive proof that Pocket Pair did not use generative AI for Palworld. The developer has so far remained mum on the subject. Until the studio does speak up, or someone offers conclusive proof, whether or not Palworld was made with generative AI will remain speculation.
Palworld is currently available on early access on PC via Steam and Xbox Series consoles.
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