From Pickmon to Pickmos: When 'Lore' and 'Brand Identity' Are Just Clever Spells to Evade the IP Police
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
PocketGame's 'Pickmon', a creature-collecting game with designs strikingly similar to Pokémon and Palworld, has rebranded to 'Pickmos' citing 'brand identity and lore' – a move widely seen by players as a transparent attempt to dodge legal trouble, while the developer defends its 'different outlines' despite blatant lookalikes.
Right, so apparently, the universe decided to play a particularly cheeky trick on us this past month, serving up a creature-collecting game so familiar it felt like déja vu, but in pixel form. We're talking about 'Pickmon', a game that arrived on Steam with a debut trailer that practically shouted 'homage!' at the top of its lungs – if by 'homage' you mean 'nearly identical twin, just with a slightly different haircut.' And now, in a move that’s either brilliantly transparent or just plain audacious, the developers have decided to rename it. Oh, and the reason? To 'better align with our brand identity and lore.' You know that feeling when you cast a simple charm and it backfires spectacularly, turning your magnificent grimoire into a sentient, perpetually confused badger? That's kinda what happened with 'Pickmon' this week, mate.
Let’s rewind a bit, shall we? When 'Pickmon' first popped its head out of the digital tall grass last month, it immediately raised more than a few eyebrows. I mean, we're not talking about subtle inspiration here. We're talking creature designs that were, shall we say, *dangerously* close to those beloved pocket monsters we've all grown up with. And let's not even get started on the open-world creature-collecting action gameplay, which felt a smidge too familiar to another recent breakout success involving pals and spheres. The internet, ever the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to spotting a copy-paste job, didn't hold back. Comments sections lit up with cries of 'Gotta Sue Them All' and 'Lawsuit speedrun'. Fair dinkum, you could almost hear Nintendo's legal team sharpening their wands from across the globe.
Now, the folks behind this particular digital adventure are PocketGame – and no, before you ask, they are *not* to be confused with PocketPair, the clever clogs who gave us Palworld. Even company names aren't safe from a bit of creative proximity these days, apparently. Initially, PocketGame released a statement, promising to engage with the community, listen to feedback, and develop new features and designs. A solid, if somewhat standard, move. You reckon they were genuinely planning a big community overhaul? Or were they just buying time while a different kind of department was working overtime?
Fast forward a couple of weeks, and the big reveal landed: 'Pickmon' is no more. Long live 'Pickmos'! And here's where the magic trick gets a bit wobbly. According to PocketGame, this new name 'better aligns with the game's brand identity and lore' because the '-mos' suffix apparently evokes 'a grand cosmos' and a 'complete ecosystem'. "This name carries a more powerful presence, acting as a better vessel for the fantasy adventure we are building for you," they proclaimed. Bloody hell, an '-mos' suffix capable of conjuring an entire cosmos? That's some serious linguistic sorcery right there! One can only imagine the ancient texts they consulted to uncover this profound truth. (Or perhaps they just ran a quick 'thesaurus for grand-sounding suffixes' search.)
But here's the kicker: while the game's official title has gone full cosmic, those 'cute creatures' are still collectively known as 'Pickmon'. So, the game is 'Pickmos', but you're still collecting 'Pickmon' within its 'grand cosmos'. Confused yet? Me too, mate. It's like renaming your magical beast stable 'The Etherial Menagerie' but insisting everyone still calls the dragons 'Sparky' and 'Fluffy'. The players, bless their perceptive little hearts, weren't buying the cosmic branding, either. The reaction? Still not favourable, to put it mildly.
One particularly eloquent user summed it up perfectly: "You think we're stupid? Everyone knows that you're making nothing more than blatant plagiarised slop with no creativity or identity to stand out." And they had the screenshots to prove it. Not only did the game feature creature designs that were uncannily familiar, but somehow, Overwatch's grizzled hero Roadhog seemed to have taken a detour into this strange world, alongside a player character that looked suspiciously like a slightly off-model Link from Breath of the Wild. It's a veritable smorgasbord of 'inspiration', isn't it? A digital magpie's nest, if you will.
In defence of their… *unique* approach to design, the official Pickmos account has been diligently replying with variations of the same statement. Their 'Design Patent Department', they claim, has determined that "the outlines are completely different" and that "colors cannot be patented". Furthermore, for a Western dragon design to be considered an infringement, it would require an "identical outline." Right. So, as long as you nudge a scale here or shift an eye socket there, it's all good? It's like saying a wizard isn't actually stealing a spell if they chant it with a slightly different intonation. Technically true in some arcane circles, but practically, everyone knows what you're doing. It raises a fascinating, if slightly chaotic, question about the boundaries of IP in the digital age. Where does inspiration end and imitation begin, especially when the lines are so heavily smudged?
'Pickmos' currently exists without a release date and only a PC (Steam) release confirmed. It's a curious case, isn't it? One that makes you wonder about the long-term strategy behind such development. Are they genuinely hoping to carve out a niche, or is this a brave, if foolhardy, attempt to sail close to the copyright wind? In a world bursting with innovation, where genuinely new ideas are blooming every day, it's always a bit of a head-scratcher when a game leans so heavily on the established success of others. Still, it's certainly given us something to talk about, hasn't it? And sometimes, in this wild, unpredictable digital cosmos, that's half the fun.
Tags: gaming news, IP infringement, indie games, game development, player reaction
Original article: Eurogamer