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One of the biggest appeals of Palworld was people calling it essentially Pokémon with guns. The apparent similarities in designs between Pocketpair’s Pals and Nintendo’s pocket monsters have been a heated point of contention since launch, and the controversy has only escalated. Despite the already apparent similarities, many players actually want to download and install Pokémon mods into Palworld. Unfortunately, this has again resulted in controversy with Nexus refusing to platform mods related to the Japanese IP.
Despite being part of Game Pass for January 2024, Palworld has sold over 7 million copies. It is only in early access format and developer Pocketpair has released a new update for Xbox and Steam with patch notes available online. While patches for the here-and-now are fixated on bugs, stability, and eradicating cheating, the official roadmap promises more Pals, bosses, and islands for the future.
The game is only going to get bigger and better with every update. Unfortunately, while a few mods exist on Nexus, you won’t be able to download any Pokémon content due to the looming shadow of Nintendo.
Can you download Palworld Pokémon mods from Nexus?
Pokémon mods for Palworld are not available to download from Nexus. As for why Nexus refuses to platform such content, an official statement from the website says that ‘Given Palworld’s similarity to the Pokémon franchise as a base game, hosting content that adds Pokémon copyrighted characters or assets into the game is almost certainly going to put us at risk of legal action’.
The news post further says ‘Palworld content that is uploaded to Nexus Mods and is considered to have Pokémon-derived characters or assets will be taken down’ because ‘At best we would have to deal with the headache of legal threats from Nintendo and at worst they may seek to take action against us and the uploaders of the mods directly’.
Away from Nexus, YouTuber Toastedshoes was hit by a DMCA from Nintendo over their Palworld Pokémon mod video tease on Twitter. Their YouTube channel consists of inserting mods into popular video games such as replacing the protagonists of Little Nightmares 2 with Woody and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. However, their Twitter clip promoting their upcoming Palworld Pokémon mod video was DMCA’d by Nintendo, and, on Twitter, Toastedshoes refutes that it was because of selling or profiting off the mod. Toastedshoes has not uploaded the full video to YouTube following the DMCA on Twitter.
In addition to all of the above, the Pokémon Company has issued a statement in response to the comparisons between their IP and Palworld. On the less serious side of things, PETA has also blasted the game while saying they want a Vegan guide.
