A newly announced Steam title called Pickmon is drawing attention across the gaming community due to its strong resemblance to several well-known franchises. The game, developed by PocketGame and published by NetworkGo, blends creature collecting, open-world survival, and crafting mechanics in ways that remind many players of established titles.
Because of these similarities, some fans are already wondering whether Nintendo could take legal action, especially given the company’s long history of defending its intellectual property.
A Creature-Collecting Survival Game
In Pickmon, players explore a large open world featuring diverse environments such as jungles, deserts, frozen tundras, and volcanic regions. Throughout the adventure, players can capture creatures called “Pickmon” using special cards.
These creatures can then be used in combat while players explore the world, battle enemies, and uncover the secrets of an ancient civilization. The game also includes a mysterious organization that acts as a major antagonist during the story.
Beyond creature collecting, the game introduces a number of survival and crafting mechanics.
Players can:
- Gather natural resources from the environment
- Build homes and farms
- Construct automated factories
- Produce weapons and tools
This combination of creature collection and base-building mechanics has reminded many players of Palworld, another game that mixes monster companions with survival gameplay systems.
Visual Similarities Raising Questions
Early preview screenshots of Pickmon have further fueled discussion online. Some creatures appear visually similar to characters from Pokémon, including designs that resemble the iconic electric mascot Pikachu.
Other images reportedly show characters that resemble Link from The Legend of Zelda, as well as designs reminiscent of Roadhog from Overwatch.
While inspiration between games is common in the industry, the number of similarities spotted by fans has raised concerns about potential intellectual property issues.
Nintendo’s History of Protecting Its IP
Nintendo is known for actively defending its brands and character designs. The company has taken legal action in the past against projects that it believed copied its intellectual property too closely.
More recently, Nintendo was involved in legal discussions surrounding Palworld, a creature-collecting survival game whose monster designs were widely compared to Pokémon.
Because of this precedent, some observers believe Nintendo could potentially investigate Pickmon if the similarities prove significant.
What Happens Next?
At the moment, no official legal action has been announced regarding Pickmon. The game is still in its early promotional stage, and many details about its final design and gameplay systems remain unknown.
In the gaming industry, inspiration alone is not necessarily illegal. Legal issues typically arise when character designs, assets, or mechanics are considered too close to protected intellectual property.
For now, Pickmon remains an intriguing new title that combines several popular game mechanics—but its future may depend on how closely it resembles the franchises that appear to inspire it.
The big question now:
Will Pickmon carve out its own identity, or will it attract legal scrutiny similar to other monster-collecting games in the past?
