With the Palworld lawsuit rumbling on in the background, the Nintendo Switch welcomes "Palland" – a survival game that looks a whole lot like Pocketpair's creature collector

News
By published

This is no Pokemon

Palworld screenshot showing a young woman with tied-back red hair petting her Pal, a large white and purple Xenogard
(Image credit: Pocketpair)

As The Pokemon Company continues its legal battle with Palworld, a new survival game that amusingly looks a whole lot like Pocketpair's creature collector has quietly come to light: Palland.

Nearly a year ago now, the Nintendo-owned Pokemon Company filed a lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair for patent infringement. Although it's ongoing currently, the lawsuit has resulted in various changes on Pocketpair's behalf in Palworld, from alterations to the Pal Sphere mechanics so that they no longer resemble Pokeballs as closely to "yet another compromise" with tweaks for the in-game gliding system.

It seems that, despite accusations of copying Nintendo's Pokemon games, Palworld is no stranger to clones or rip-offs itself. Enter Palland, a brand-new game for the Nintendo Switch that looks an awful lot like Pocketpair's survival-style creature collector – down to its title, apparently. Although it's confusingly tagged on the Nintendo Store as a "Party, Simulation, Strategy, Arcade" game, its description and trailer say otherwise.

The trailer shows a title that plays much like Palworld – albeit arguably in a far clunkier way – with base-building, crafting, gathering, and of course, Pals. As for the game's official description, it dubs Palland "a captivating survival, building, and exploration game where everything starts with a humble base." It's also said to harbor "wild creatures that can be both threats and valuable sources of power." So, in other words, Pals.

Not much else can be found on the mysterious game. Pocketpair has yet to publicly share its developers' own thoughts on the new Switch release, but the similarities are inescapable. From its name to its character and creature design, Palland channels big Palworld energy – and its awkward attempt at emulating the same survival-style gameplay can't go unnoticed, either.

Anna Koselke
Anna Koselke
Staff Writer

After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms' clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she's not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she's probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she's spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur's Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you'll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.