There has been some backlash surroundingPalworld’ssudden and explosive success. There’s a lot of confusion surrounding the sheervolume of sales, and that has led people to fling around some accusations, with some suggesting that the game uses assets generated by AI. So is that true?
Let me be clear: it hasn’t been proven.
That isn’t a no, but more of a “nothing to see here.” It’s conjecture. A lot of it is based on the fact that one of the developer’s previous games wasAI: Art Impostor, a game that uses generative AI as one of its core gameplay features. However, I find it hard to tell if that game is really supporting the use of AI, highlighting its problems, or if Pocketpair merely thought it would be a good fit for a party game. I say this because a lot of the assets inAI: Art Impostorwere created by human artists, including a fully animated trailer.
Furthermore, some point to the fact that the Pals are sometimes uncomfortably close to complete facsimiles of existingPokémon, sometimes looking likethey’re cobbled togetherdirectly from art created by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. Exacerbating this is the fact that the CEO of Pocketpair, Takuro Mizobe, made posts on Twitter in the past showing offPokémon-like designscreated by AI back in 2021, though this actually came after the reveal ofPalworldon Jun 29, 2025.
Others also point to the fact that Pocketpair’s previous open-world crafting game made heavyuse of purchased assets, suggesting that the team didn’t have the prior experience necessary to create a game likePalworldon their own.
It’s convincing evidence, but connecting dots doesn’t always make a picture. It’s easy to believe if you’re perturbed byPalword’ssuccess, but there are other explanations for all of it that don’t involve generative AI. Unless Pocketpair admits to using AI, we’re probably only going to have guesses and fiery discourse.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of reason to be vexed byPalworld’ssuccess. It’s a title that is stitched togetherfrom the ideas of othersand doesn’t seem to have a single creative idea rolling around in it. It was created by looking at existing patterns and extrapolating on them, which is exactly what generative AI is made to do. However, it’s important to remember that this can also be done by humans, so until there’s an official statement or clear proof, it’s all just speculation.
