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Newly leaked Pokémon game reminds fans of Palworld

Newly leaked Pokémon game reminds fans of Palworld





From SVG staff



Niantic

“Pokémon” with weapons, but for real? Suddenly it’s even less surprising why Nintendo is suing Palworld. In October 2024, Game Freak, the company behind the development of the Pokémon franchise, confirmed that it had been the victim of a significant data breach two months earlier. The hack resulted in the unauthorized leak of a massive amount of data related to the “Pokémon” series, including source code for the DS games “Pokémon Heart Gold,” “Pokémon Soul Silver,” “Pokémon Black 2” and “Pokémon White 2.” “. .”

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Worryingly, the leak also resulted in the disclosure of Game Freak employees’ personal information, but the aspect now drawing the most attention concerns Pokémon projects that have yet to be released – or in some cases even announced. According to NintendoEverything, a strange project found in the leaks is said to be a “Splatoon-like game” codenamed “Synapse.”

Pokémon meets Splatoon in a supposedly leaked game


Palworld trainer with weapon
Pair of bags

According to the Spanish-language Pokémon site “Centro Pokémon,” the game has been in some form of development since 2019. AllCarefully leaked concept documents in Japanese seem to indicate that the game is being developed for both Nintendo Switch and smartphones, and apparently involves taming and riding Pokémon to attack other players. In case you’re wondering how far the “Splatoon” comparisons go (beyond a paint-splattered protagonist), one way of attack appears to be the use of weapons – just like in “Palworld.”

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If you’ve been following SVG’s coverage – or video game news in general – you know that “Palworld” is the hit game for Windows, Xbox and PS5 that’s all about fighting monsters in a very “Pokémon”-inspired way to catch and tame. What doesn’t seem so “Pokémon”-inspired is the fact that these monsters are often equipped with heavy artillery, with weapons ranging from small arms to rocket launchers. After eight months of will-they/won’t-they, Nintendo and the Pokémon Company pulled the trigger and sued “Palworld” developer Pocketpair for allegedly violating multiple patent rights. Now that the Game Freak leak reveals what appears to be a problem officially For a project that involves “Pokémon with weapons,” some fans online believe that the motives behind the lawsuit seem even more obvious.

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The future of Pokémon still seems wide open


Still from
Nintendo / The Pokémon Company

Despite the obvious comparisons, it remains to be seen whether Nintendo will prevail in the lawsuit, and questions remain as to whether the company has a monopoly on “Pokémon-style” games. It also remains to be seen whether this supposed “Synapse” project will ever see the light of day, be it on Nintendo Switch and smartphones or in the long-awaited Switch successor.

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In addition to the alleged Synapse project, the Game Freak leak also contains information about a variety of Pokémon-related projects, including a version of the previously announced Pokémon Legends game “ZA” and unused Pokémon character designs from several games in the series and codenames for them 10th generation Pokémon games – “K” and “N”, which are apparently being developed for the Switch and the so-called Switch 2. According to IGN, the leaks even contain information about a sequel – or sequels – to the 2019 film Detective Pikachu.

All in all, the ill-gotten data is a treasure trove for “Pokémon” fans eagerly awaiting news about the future of the franchise, although only time will tell which projects actually come to fruition. But what do you think? Would you compare “Palworld” to a real “Pokémon with weapons”? Or would Game Freak prefer to focus on something more traditional? Whether the company wants it or not, fans will have a lot to say about these big potential plans for Pokémon’s future.

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