54% of American gamers who have heard of Palworld feel its creatures are original

Palworld has made waves since its early access launch on January 19. According to a recent YouGov Surveys poll, 26% of American gamers – those who dedicate at least an hour each week to gaming on any device – are aware of the game. And among those aware of the game, more than a third have already played it (35%).

This checks out, because the game is currently among Steam’s top ten most played games. While the game has also received approval from critics generally, its character designs have faced scrutiny. The chief argument is that Palworld’s creatures look too similar to Pokémon. Perhaps this perceived similarity is why the Americans who have played Pokémon games in the past 12 months are more likely than the overall gaming audience to have heard about the game (46%). And among those who have heard about it, they are also likelier to have played it (44%).

But what do gamers think about the distinctiveness of Palworld’s catchable creatures? Among American gamers aware of Palworld, more than half (54%) find its creatures to be somewhat or very original. Less than half that share (22%) believe the creatures lack originality. American gamers are significantly likelier to rate give Palworld characters the originality thumbs up than their British counterparts, among whom the ratings are inversed.

Interestingly, Pokémon gamers are roughly as likely as the broader gamers group to find Palworld’s character design original (53%) or unoriginal (21%).

While the share of gamers who give Palworld the nod approval for character originality is quite substantial, the share of those who have a positive impression of the game overall is even higher.

In fact, gamers are six more likely to have a positive impression of the game rather than a negative impression (64% vs. 10%). This trend holds true, and is even more pronounced, among Pokémon gamers (70% vs. 8%).

Even among gamers who feel Palworld’s designs are unoriginal or those who feel the designs are neither original nor unoriginal, 43% hold a positive view of the game. However, within this group, the proportion of those with a negative view rises to 22%.

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Image credit: Palworld