Survival videogame Palworld has broken records and sold 4m copies in a matter of days, even as players have noticed its debt to Pokémon.

Released on the 19th January, survival videogame Palworld finally answered that age-old question: what would happen if Pokémon had guns in it?

Players all over the world have clearly reacted strongly to that concept, with Palworld selling millions of copies in the brief period since its release. At the time of writing, sales have passed the 4m copies mark, while it’s also breaking records on Steam, with 1.2m people playing the game concurrently over its debut weekend. To put that in perspective, that’s beaten the peak concurrent player numbers of much higher-profile games like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Elden Ring.

The game hasn’t been without its controversies, though. Accusations that its creature designs look a little too close to those jealously guarded by...