Palword is the gaming phenomenon of the moment, and like every popular game, it inevitably gives ideas to crooks and scammers of all stripes. According to the studio behind the title, illegal copies of Palword have surfaced on the App Store and Google Play Store. Beware of these fake versions that simply seek to recover your personal data.
If you follow video game news at all, you have inevitably heard of Palworld, the latest fashionable survival game from Japanese studio Pocket Pair. The title, wrongly nicknamed “Pokémon with guns“, is currently experiencing immense success on Steam and on Xbox since its launch in early access in early January 2024. It’s simple, the game has exceeded the 5 million copies soldachieving a better start than Elden Ring or Cyberpunk 2077.
The game is also at the center of a vast controversy, particularly due to strong suspicions of plagiarism from Pokémon, Nintendo’s flagship license. Only a few days ago, the Japanese manufacturer and The Pokemon Company announced the opening of an investigation into Palworld for potential intellectual property infringement. Palwolrd’s career could therefore soon end depending on the conclusions of the investigation launched by BigN.
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[Warning]
There is no Palworld application for phones. Apps using names and product images such as “パルワールド” and “Palworld” are appearing on the AppStore and Google Play, but they are not affiliated with our company in any way.We have reported this issue to Apple, which…
— Palworld (@Palworld_EN) January 31, 2024
Pirate versions of Palworld land on the App Store
In the meantime, Palworld continues to sell like hot cakes on Steam and the Microsoft Store, and such success inevitably attracts the attention of crooks and scammers of all stripes. Indeed, ports of the title have just appeared on the App Store and the Google Play Store.
Only and as declared by the Pocket Pair studio on X (Twitter), no mobile version of Palworld is currently in development. “There is no Palworld app for smartphones. Apps using product names and images such as “パルワールド” and “Palworld” appear on the App Store and Google Play, but they are in no way affiliated with our Company“, alerts the studio on the social network.
The structure claims to have communicated the problem to Apple and Google, in the hope that the two giants quickly remove these fraudulent copies from their respective application stores. “Please note that downloading these apps may result in leakage of personal information stored on your smartphone or fraud,” adds Pocket Pair.