It didn't take long for the internet to latch onto a nickname for Palworld—Pokémon with guns. And the developers are tired of it.
It was snappy, weird, and undeniably viral. It helped the game explode in popularity, especially among people who hadn't even seen a trailer yet. But years after its reveal, the team at Pocketpair is still trying to shake off a label they never asked for.
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+ 3John Buckley, Pocketpair's communications director, spoke about the issue during his GDC 2025 talk, and he didn't hold back. He recalled how Palworld was first introduced during Japan's Indie Live Expo back in 2021.
It was a modest reveal meant to show off a survival game where creatures had real personalities and could support automated systems. Within days, the phrase "Pokémon with guns" was everywhere.
From Buckley's perspective, the nickname snowballed before they had a chance to frame the game on their own terms. He said the team was "branded, as early as 2021, as a 'certain franchise' plus guns" and admitted that this label stuck far longer than they ever expected.
Although Buckley sees how the phrase could have caught attention, he clarified that it was never part of the pitch and certainly wasn't how the developers envisioned their game.
According to Buckley, the team had their sights set more on ARK: Survival Evolved than anything from Nintendo's catalog. Pocketpair's previous game, Craftopia, dabbled in survival elements, but Palworld aimed to take those systems to the next level, focusing on automation, creature management, and survival.
click to enlarge+ 3The vision was to design a world where every creature (or Pal) came with its own personality and distinct role. Buckley explained that the pitch sounded more like this: "Let's make something like ARK, but a lot heavier on the automation, and each creature's like its own very special thing." What they were going for was a focus on work, survival, and cooperation, not turn-based battles or evolution trees.
Buckley understands that the internet moves fast and comparisons help convey new ideas, so the problem isn't with the meme itself. What bothers the team is how many players still believe the comparison defines the gameplay. It's all surface-level imitation, and that couldn't be further from what the game is trying to be.
"If people want to say that after playing, that's fine," he noted. "But we'd rather everyone give it a bit of a chance first."
There's also a legal angle to all of this. Palworld was sued in late 2024 by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for alleged patent and design infringements.
Buckley described the day as "depressing," noting that many at the studio were long-time Pokémon fans. Although some changes were made to the game's summoning mechanics, the controversy continued to escalate.
click to enlarge+ 3Still, Pocketpair doesn't even see themselves as being in the same lane as Pokémon. According to Buckley, the games aren't competing for the same audience. He even pointed out that their player base overlaps more with fans of games like Helldivers 2 than Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
If he had the chance to rewrite history, Buckley jokes he'd call the game something like ARK meets Factorio with a splash of Happy Tree Friends. It's not as catchy, sure, but probably more accurate.
The truth is, PocketPair is already looking ahead. They've launched a new publishing initiative and even teased a horror project in development. But no matter where they go next, they're still wrestling with that viral tagline.
It's been a double-edged sword—one that helped them break into the mainstream but keeps boxing them into a category they never asked to be part of.
For more articles like this, take a look at our Gaming News and Palworld page.