Pokemon: Pokopia is Nintendo’s latest crack at spinning off the Pokemon franchise, and it looks promising. Its central design conceit is its survival-crafting gameplay, which is highly reminiscent of the likes of Animal Crossing and Minecraft.
It’s also reminiscent of Palworld, which is surprising to say the least. For the uninitiated, Palworld is essentially public enemy number-one for Nintendo and the Pokemon Company, the subject of a long-running lawsuit since its early access launch last year. Nintendo has alleged that a number of Palworld’s features constitute copyright infringement, from flying mechanics to the ability to capture monsters in sphere-shaped devices. While Palworld does bear some resemblance to traditional Pokemon—occasionally to the point of absurdity—most would agree that its gameplay, tone and story are all a world apart from Nintendo's franchise: there are no turn-based battles, no childhood rival to conquer, no network of gyms through which to ascend, et cetera. In fact, it's safe to say that Palworld has much more in common, mechanically at least, with something like DayZ or Valheim, than Pokemon. But whatever one thinks of the Palworld situation, Nintendo is making itself look quite hypocritical with Pokemon: Pokopia.
Pokemon: Pokopia Feels Like a Double-Standard
Pokopia Is Hardly a Unique Concept
Pokemon: Pokopia could be an interesting, refreshing next step for the Pokemon IP as a whole, but it would be disingenuous to call it entirely original. There are shades of Animal Crossing, of course, but it also seems to draw from non-Nintendo properties, like Minecraft and Dragon Quest Builder. And for a lot of people, this is great: there's nothing wrong with a new game that draws inspiration from other popular games of the time. That's what the original Pokemon RPGs did, after all: those classic 2D games drew heavily from JRPG tropes of the time, and the more modern entries reflect that influence as well.
Indeed, there shouldn't be anything wrong with borrowing broad-strokes concepts from other games and applying them to a different premise or gameplay loop. This is especially unproblematic since Pokemon: Pokopia features many distinct mechanics, like the powers-based progression model that channels the tried-and-true "catch-em-all" formula. In other words, Pokopia seems to do enough to make it stand out from its clear inspirations. But Palworld does that, too.
It's Even Harder to Defend Nintendo's Palworld Crusade After Pokopia's Reveal
Whether Palworld actually infringes on certain aspects of copyright law is a matter for legal experts to determine, but to call it a "Pokemon clone" is hardly accurate. Palworld is a survival MMO about exploration, crafting, customization, base-building, and real-time combat—it just happens to feature a creature-collecting mechanic. This mechanic isn't even a 1:1 copy of Pokemon's, as the way the player leverages such in-game creatures, for building and combat, has virtually nothing in common with Nintendo's take on the concept.
In a somewhat comical bit of repeated history, Palworld has attracted the attention of PETA, the same animal rights organization that has had a hostile relationship with Pokemon for years.
For Nintendo to throw the book at Palworld for its perceived similarities to Pokemon, and then go on to make a somewhat derivative-looking survival-crafting game, feels insincere. Sure, maybe Palworld was partially inspired by Pokemon, but Pokemon: Pokopia is partially inspired by countless games. If, for instance, Square Enix were to file a lawsuit against Nintendo, on the grounds that Pokopia is too similar to Dragon Quest Builders, would Nintendo accept that? The answer to that question should be obvious. Sadly, this sort of weaponized litigiousness is all too common in the world of intellectual property. It's not exactly fair, but it's often not about fairness, anyway.
OpenCritic Reviews
- Released
- March 5, 2026
- ESRB
- Everyone / Users Interact, In-Game Purchases
- Developer(s)
- Koei Tecmo, Game Freak
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo, The Pokemon Company
WHERE TO PLAY
Play as a Ditto and build a new life with Pokémon—from the ground up!
Create a cozy space to delight your Pokémon friends. Learn new moves from your fellow Pokémon to further customize your surroundings, like Bulbasaur’s Leafage! Use it to add a touch of green to your environment, or learn Squirtle’s Water Gun to refresh thirsty plants.
Build a Pokémon paradise
Create a charming world built alongside your Pokémon friends. After a satisfying day of crafting, building, and gardening, relax in your very own paradise or invite Pokémon and your friends to visit. The choice is yours!
- Franchise
- Pokemon
- Nintendo Switch 2 Release Date
- March 5, 2026
- Genre(s)
- Life Simulation, Simulation
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch 2
