Users jokingly suggest The Pokémon Company’s statement isn’t about Palworld, but Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

The Pokémon Company issued a statement on January 25 to address an influx of user inquiries regarding appropriation of their intellectual property and assets by another company. Given the events that led up to the statement, it’s only logical to assume that it was in reference to the monster-taming survival game Palworld, but Japanese users have jokingly raised the conspiracy theory that the statement is actually about Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. 

Avoiding names for obvious reasons, The Pokémon Company’s statement only describes “another company’s game released in January 2024.” PocketPair’s new best-seller Palworld has been caught up in heated debate about alleged plagiarism of Pokémon creature designs ever since it was released on January 19.  Therefore, The Pokémon Company’s recent statement was most likely intended to inform the public that they are fully aware of the Palworld situation and not in need of countless reports from users. 

Funnily enough, there’s another game that matches the description in The Pokémon Company’s statement – the latest title in the Yakuza series, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Infinite Wealth launches “in January 2024”, but the release date isn’t the only thing it has in common with Palworld and its Pals. Yes, it’s Sujimon.  

One of Infinite Wealth’s various features is the Sujimon Battle League. Sujimon is a term that refers to enemies in the game, which you need to catalogue in your Sujidex. Infinite Wealth will not only allow you to fight Sujimon Battles with Sujimon you’ve recruited, but also include Sujimon Gyms and Sujimon Raids. Each Sujimon has its stats, and they are even categorized into elemental types such as Blaze-type Sujimon and Shadow-type Sujimon. 

The charming content parodying Pokémon games has been well received by Yakuza fans and has obviously not caused any real offense. However, the timing of it all has brought about the conspiracy theory that the “other game” The Pokémon Company is currently investigating for infringement of intellectual property is actually Infinite Wealth. 

In X user @_Tanaka_Tar0u’s viral comic, a beefed-up Pikachu makes lawsuit threats, to which a couple of Palworld Pals cower in fear. Ichiban Kasuga sips his coffee saying, “You guys sure have it tough,” only to be told it’s Like a Dragon that’s getting sued.