Gears of War's Cliff Bleszinski tried to make Palworld years ago
The successes of Palworld were unprecedented - but maybe that's just because we'd forgotten that players love the gameplay that created Pokemon, not just Pokemon itself. Pocket Pair's title has made a name for itself by standing as a next-gen monster-catcher with a few firearms and obstructions to human (Pal?) rights.
Palworld has caused a riot online, with one side of its war fighting on behalf of The Pokemon Company and intellectual property rights, while the other is playing in the grass with their Pals. It's one-sided fury, but at least the sales numbers reflect a very happy base of fans. It turns out that we could have had a game very similar but much sooner.
Cliff Bleszinski claims he had a Palworld-alike years ago
Cliff Bleszinski is the outspoken Gears of War creator who has made a name for himself by letting fans peek behind the curtain of game development on Twitter. Cliffy B has revealed that he had an idea for a game that was similar to Palworld many years ago.
Apparently, Bleszinski had trouble getting it off the ground, and taking to Twitter, he explained what went wrong. Bleszinski said he had planned "medieval Pokemon with baby dragons instead," taking the game to Epic Games, but it was "rejected at all the major publishers."
It's clear that Cliff was rubbed the wrong way by this plan, as he says, "Palworld’s success kinda validates my pitch." He seems glad to see the game performing well, but reasonably, it wouldn't be a surprise us if he hoped it had been him at the helm.
Why is an idea like Palworld taking off now?
Click to enlargeWith an industry champion like Bleszinski failing to make the idea work nicely, it does bear the question - why is a game like Palworld only taking off now?
The only answer we have comes in a single word - bravery. Now, as indie developers can produce and publish games off their own backs more easily than ever, it means that teams like Pocket Pair can risk legal threats from The Pokemon Company to make their game happen.
The company appears to have done its due diligence, as it hasn't been snatched up by Nintendo's ban hammer (though a Pokemon mod of the game has), and it's working well so far.
Even so, it’s hard to blame major publishers for being sceptical about an idea similar to Palworld. After all, to be ostracised by one of the gaming universe’s grandest companies means almost certain death in the industry. Hold strong, Pocket Pair - the man hasn’t got you yet.
