Networkgo Steps In, Revises Pickmos After Accusations It Copied Pokémon and Fan Art

Publisher Networkgo says it has stepped into development of the controversial creature-collector Pickmos and is revising the game after weeks of accusations that it copied Pokémon, Palworld and other titles, along with claims from fan artists that their designs were used without permission.

On April 16, the official Pickmos account posted a statement attributed to the publisher saying, “Networkgo has officially intervened in the development of PocketGame. We will be supervising the Pickmos team from a player's perspective to ensure the game keeps getting better.” The game’s Steam app page lists PocketGame as the developer and NETWORKGO as the publisher. Several gaming outlets reported on April 16 and 17 that the game’s Steam store page had been removed amid the controversy, but the official Steam page for PICKMOS was accessible again as of April 17 at 20:29 UTC and showed “Release Date: To be announced.” That suggests any disappearance was temporary, or that those reports reflected an earlier change.

The project drew attention in early March, when players and gaming outlets said it strongly resembled Pokémon and Palworld. Around April 10, the official account announced that the game was changing its name from Pickmon to Pickmos, saying the new title better fit the project’s “brand identity and lore.” The renaming did little to calm criticism, which had expanded beyond general comparisons to specific allegations about monster designs.

The most prominent of those claims came from fan artist el.psy.fake, who posts as @ElpsyFake01, who said on March 9 that the game copied the artist’s fan-made Mega Meganium design. Other fan artists also publicly alleged that Pickmon, now Pickmos, used or closely resembled their fan designs. In a statement reproduced by IGN, Networkgo said it was gathering information on those allegations and added, “We will be actively reaching out to @ElpsyFake01.” The dispute matters beyond online backlash because the allegations concern whether a commercial game borrowed original fan-created work, not just whether it was heavily inspired by established franchises.

The project’s own social account has said the game is now being changed before any launch. In a separate post reproduced by GamesRadar and PC Gamer, the account said, “We are revising the game to ensure a controversy-free experience. It will be re-released once our publisher gives the final approval.” As of April 17, the Steam page listed no date beyond “to be announced.” No public lawsuit or cease-and-desist from Nintendo, The Pokémon Company or the fan artists was identified in the sourced reporting available by Friday. For now, the clearest status update is that Pickmos remains publicly listed on Steam, but under revision and under closer publisher oversight.