Pickmos has been removed from Steam after being accused of plagiarizing Pokemon and Palworld

Palworld developer Pocketpair and Nintendo have been locked in a legal battle for some time because the former looks a lot like Pokémon. Despite the obvious similarities, the only real change Palworld was forced to make was to change the Pal Sphere summoning system to be less similar to Pokémon's Poke Ball. Beyond that, ‘Pokémon with guns’ survived and thrived.

With this precedent established, another developer called PocketGame decided to release its own clone called Pickmon, ripping off designs from both games as well as Final Fantasy 14, Overwatch, and even fan art. The game originally tried to distance itself from these claims by changing its name to Pickmos, but that apparently wasn't enough, as the publisher pulled the game from Steam.

Pickmos publisher has removed the game from Steam

In Pickmon, a bear-like monster that runs towards the character holding the card.

“Hello players, this is publisher Networkgo. We'd like to hear your feedback and sort things out regarding the removal of the Steam store page. Networkgo has officially stepped in to develop PocketGame,” publisher Networkgo said on Twitter. “We will supervise the Picmos team from the player’s perspective so that we can continue to produce better games. We ask for your support.”

When asked when the game would return to Steam, he replied, “We are making modifications to the game to ensure a controversy-free experience. It will be re-released once final approval is received from the publisher.” Further inquiries regarding the theft of fan art revealed that the developer plans to contact the original creator.

Palworld is dying because of Pokemon and Palworld collage meme

relevant

Growing up without Pokémon made Palworld better.

My inner child is healing.

Searching for Pickmos or Pickmon on Steam yielded no results, so the team actually went back to the drawing board. However, considering the sheer number of things that have been ripped off, including some of the monsters that appear on the game's main poster, it's hard to know what steps the developers will take to create a 'controversy-free experience'.

The publisher did not provide any further information or hints as to when the game is expected to return. But I guarantee that not many people will be sad to see it.