A new Pokémon battle?

As an avid gamer, it's always interesting when my personal interests collide with my professional ones and waking up today to multiple articles surrounding this matter has been no exception. 

In a recent statement, the Pokémon Company have announced that they will be investigating alleged infringement of their intellectual property rights following the release of a new game. Whilst their statement did not mention a game or developer by name,  I believe it's clear that they are referring to Palworld, the game which has been endearingly referred to as “Pokémon with guns” by its fans. Since Palworld's early access release earlier this month, fans have been rushing to forums to comment on the apparent similarity between Palword's companions and those of the beloved Pokémon franchise, sparking an online debate and discussion on whether the newly released Palworld has infringed on the Pokémon brand or whether they have simply used the earlier franchise as inspiration. 

Whilst it is not currently clear whether The Pokémon Company intend to take any action against the developers of Palworld, it will certainly be interesting to see how this matter progresses once their investigations have concluded. I'm sure many people will be closely following the implications that this could have on intellectual property within the gaming industry.