Palworld issues official statement on AI usage

Palworld Developer Pocketpair reaffirmed its commitment not to use generative AI in any way, pushing back against claims that claimed Pocketpair used generative AI to create various assets. The statement came as Palworld prepared for the long-awaited 1.0 release after two years of early access.

It's no secret that generative AI has been a touchy subject in the gaming and tech industry in recent years. Although various developers have condemned its use and said that generative AI has led to layoffs in the gaming industry, some games such as Crazy taxi and Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis has confirmed the use of generative AI during game development. Generative AI's use has since led to Valve enforcing a generative AI disclosure policy on Steam, forcing developers to state if a game has used the emerging technology in any way.

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Palworld issues official statement on 1.0 Save Wipe Concerns

Palworld developer Pocketpair addresses players' concerns about the upcoming 1.0 release and what it means for their savings.

Pocketpair: Generative AI is “pointless”

Despite its widespread use, some game developers have pushed back against generative AI, including Pocketpair. Pocketpair's publishing and communications manager John “Bucky” Buckley stated that palworld's development was done entirely by humans, free of any generative AI use. Buckley said that while some developers outside of Pocketpair are still likely to use generative AI despite the growing pushback, Pocketpair isn't using it just because “players don't want it.” Buckley said: “I don't think gen AI has that much – I don't want to call it a bubble, but I don't know how long it's going to last. Even Steam is pushing back a certain amount on it.”

What kind of weapon is that?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

What kind of weapon is that?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s) Medium (5.0s) Hard (2.5s) Permadeath (2.5s)

Buckley said Pocketpair has many in-house artists who like to create things themselves, calling getting rid of them just to use generative AI “pointless.” Despite Valve's stance, other companies have since stepped up efforts to use generative AI as a core feature. One example is Epic Games' upcoming Unreal Engine 6. The next iteration of Unreal will use generative AI as a key feature for developers to use. When widely available, titles such as Fortnite and Rocket League will likely migrate to Unreal Engine 6 at the earliest. However, Unreal Engine 5 and older versions of Epic's popular game engine will still be available to developers as needed.

palworld's stance came amid accusations that developer Pocketpair had plagiarized Pokémon for various pieces of content, such as creature designs and game mechanics. The allegations came to a head after Nintendo sued Pocketpair for patent infringement in 2024. However, Nintendo has since been on the back foot in its case against Pocketpair after several rulings against them. Nintendo has since narrowed the scope of its patent process to only apply to older versions of the Palworld which has since been written off. In short, Pocketpair is unlikely to be seriously hurt by Nintendo's fall.

As for Pocketpair itself, Palworld is set to end early access and fully release on July 10. With various features confirmed for PalworldThe 1.0 release, including new environments to explore and Pals to collect, time will tell how Pocketpair's popular survival crafting game will fare in the long run.