Palland is Palworld’s low-effort twin, and somehow it made it on Nintendo Switch

Cheap knockoffs of popular games aren’t anything new, there have always been low-effort titles that just rip off the most recognizable hits. But nowadays, with AI tools, making these clones is even easier. They still look rough, sure, but the real issue is that platforms like the Nintendo eShop or PlayStation Store actually approve them. There were tons of ripoffs of the Steam hit R.E.P.O., and some are sadly still for sale. But this one really takes the cake: recently, Palland (a shady copy of Palworld) showed up on the Nintendo Switch.

The line between “inspired by” and “blatant copy” just got blurry with Palland

Palland, according to its description, is a survival game with base-building mechanics. Of course, there are tons of games like that, but the similarity to Palworld is just insane. You can’t miss it, one glance and it’s obvious this is a straight-up copy. I’m not sure if you actually catch creatures like in Palworld or just use them as resources, but the main point is clear, it’s a clone.

Source: Palland; Developer: BoggySoft

What’s even more interesting is that the devs, BoggySoft, probably used AI tools for parts of the game. Someone actually dug into Palland’s files and found some pretty curious things.

There’s a file called DLCPalworld, and even an AI-generated logo that had both Pokémon and Palworld mentioned in the file structure. It’s one thing to make a game inspired by another title, but it’s a whole different story to just feed an AI a prompt and have it spit out something that looks similar to an existing game.

This wouldn’t be such a big deal if these kinds of knockoffs weren’t flooding the eShop and PlayStation Store. But the truth is, those digital storefronts are packed with them, and nothing’s really being done to stop it. You’ll find multiple versions of the same title across the eShop, PS Store, and Xbox, tons of AI-generated junk that barely resembles a real game, and plenty of “upcoming” releases with trailers obviously made using AI, like the infamous Escape Titanic Simulator. Things are getting way out of hand, and the quality control on these stores is basically non-existent.

• Pokemon (franchise)
• scandals and controversies
• copyright
• Nintendo Switch