The Pokémon vs Palworld lawsuit is still ongoing, but another player has now stepped into the mix.
A newly listed Steam title is already raising eyebrows among gamers thanks to its very familiar mix of mechanics, visuals, and character designs. Pickmon, a creature-collecting survival game, has surfaced on the platform with gameplay elements that appear to draw inspiration from several well-known franchises, including Pokémon and Palworld. The project is listed as being developed by PocketGame and published by NetworkGo.
While PocketGame does not appear to have other releases on Steam, NetworkGo previously developed and published Hainya World in 2023. That title also drew comparisons to established games such as MapleStory and Minecraft due to its obvious stylistic inspirations.
Pickmon’s creature collecting, survival systems and visual inspirations are already turning heads
According to the Steam listing, Pickmon blends monster collecting with open-world survival gameplay. Players will explore a large continent filled with creatures that can be captured using special cards and then deployed in combat while travelling across the world.
As players venture deeper into the world, they will uncover the secrets of an ancient civilisation while confronting a mysterious organisation operating across the continent.
Beyond collecting creatures, the game also leans heavily into survival mechanics. Players can gather resources, build homes and farms, and even construct automated factories that produce weapons, tools and other equipment required to survive in the wild. Noteably, the combination of monster collecting and open-world survival crafting is quite similar to Palworld's gameplay.
However, it is the game’s creature designs and characters that have drawn the most attention online. Several preview screenshots appear to feature designs reminiscent of characters such as Pikachu, Link from The Legend of Zelda, and even Roadhog from Overwatch.
Players talk about Pickmon’s similarities with Pokemon, Palworld, Overwatch, and the Legend of Zelda
On Reddit, the gaming community didn’t waste any time calling out the similarities of Pickmon to other games. Many of the reactions came from a Reddit post by reallygoodbee that showcased the trailer.
“There's a Meganium, a Charizard, a Pikachu, a Lucario and a Cobalion in the thumbnail. And the main character is Link,” Redditor Caciulacdlac said.
“I feel like it’s ripping off palworld mechanics way more than Pokémon, there’s stuff that looks 1:1 from Palworld in this,” Redditor 18hartsem said. Others shared how some of the characters even looked like hybrids of Pokémon and Pals.
DependentOriginal420 posted one screenshot of a character in Pickmon the Overwatch Reddit, comparing it to Overwatch 2’s Road H.” According to the Redditor, they checked out the game’s Steam sales page “and a black Roadhog popped up made me laugh. Do you think Blizzard will overlook this mysterious new game company with no development history?”
Others who responded to the thread seemed to enjoy the discovery, like uwutopiia, who pointed out that he has “the same face, the same mask and body type,” saying they “smell a lawsuit.”
Nintendo, PocketPair, and Blizzard have not released a statement regarding the game.
