(New York) The Pokémon Company will “investigate” a possible misuse of its characters, without authorization, by the PocketPair studio in the game Palworldwhich has already sold several million copies, she announced Thursday.
Launched Friday on consoles and PC, Palworld is a so-called third-person shooter game, which features an avatar evolving in a world populated by creatures, sometimes hostile, some of which resemble characters from the Pokémon universe.
Two of them notably recall the famous Pikachu, the emblematic star of Pokémon which have been available in the form of trading cards, cartoons and video games.
“We will investigate and take appropriate action against any intellectual property violations related to Pokémon,” the group warned in a statement posted on its site.
The Pokémon brand generated $11.6 billion in licensing revenue in 2022, according to License Global, more than gaming giants Hasbro or Mattel.
PocketPair announced Wednesday evening that Palworld had already sold 8 million copies in just six days.
“We have received several requests regarding the game from another publisher, released in January,” Pokémon said, without mentioning the name of the game in question.
“We have not given permission to use Pokémon’s intellectual property rights in this game,” said the company, jointly controlled by Nintendo and Japanese video game publishers Game Freak and Creatures.
Asked by AFP, PocketPair did not immediately respond.
“We have been the target of slanderous comments against our creators and we have noted tweets that appear to be death threats,” Pocketpair general manager Takuro Mizobe wrote on Monday on X.