You know what they say: Good artists borrow, great artists steal. The same applies to video games — and, while we won't know if these upcoming games are great until 2025, they're all bound to give you some intense deja vu.
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00:00You know what they say, good artists borrow, great artists steal.
00:04The same applies to video games, and while we won't know if these upcoming games are
00:08great until 2025, they're all bound to give you some intense déjà vu.
00:13"...I say."
00:16PowerWorld already caused an uproar when it debuted in early 2024, but it looks like the
00:20game is going to do it again in 2025.
00:24While most of the internet was fawning over PowerWorld, which peaked with 2.1 million
00:28concurrent players on Steam, the Pokemon Company was setting its sights on PocketPair.
00:33To be fair, the game is largely about capturing Pokemon-like creatures in Magic Balls and
00:38then arming them with guns.
00:39Because of that, people weren't entirely shocked when Nintendo finally got around to suing
00:43PowerWorld.
00:45Nintendo's lawsuit accuses PocketPair of patent infringement, with the company claiming the
00:49developer copied some of the mechanics from Pokemon Legends' Arceus.
00:53Thus far, the lawsuit is far from being resolved, and the way these things tend to go, we expect
00:58the PowerWorld lawsuit to stretch well into 2025.
01:02We can probably expect a few more twists and turns in the case that will keep the internet
01:05on edge.
01:07Everyone is going to have eyes on PowerWorld now, and PocketPair could capitalize on that
01:11attention by releasing more major updates.
01:14PowerWorld proved that sometimes games can find success by leaning into their cloned
01:18aspects.
01:19Developer Polaris Quest seems poised to rush that envelope even more in 2025 with Light
01:24of Motoram.
01:25The game is planned as an open-world survival experience set in a time where civilization
01:30has collapsed and giant robotic creatures now roam the wilderness.
01:34There are some definite Monster Hunter vibes coming from the game, but all it takes is
01:38seeing one screenshot to figure out exactly where Polaris Quest seems to be taking inspiration.
01:43That was an unkind comparison.
01:48Horizon Zero Dawn and its sequel featured hugely distinctive designs for characters,
01:53creatures, and the world they inhabit.
01:55Images of towering mechanical animals in the lush, grassy expanses created a truly unique
02:01atmosphere for the series.
02:03Light of Motoram appears to be piggybacking on the love people have for the Horizon franchise,
02:07and it'll be interesting to see what kind of response Guerrilla Games or its fans will
02:11have when Polaris Quest releases its new game.
02:14It has been argued that Motoram has more going for it beyond the familiar visuals, and it
02:18could end up being a PowerWorld-sized hit.
02:21However, the early trailers for the game have been beset by a huge volume of complaints
02:25from Horizon fans, many of whom remain unconvinced, with one ex-user calling it,
02:30"...Horizon Zero originality."
02:32Ironically, 2025 could see the release of a game that looks like a clone of PowerWorld.
02:43Tencent is working with developer Tianjin Wumai Technology Corporation to create Auroria,
02:48a multiplayer game all about exploring distant worlds, constructing elaborate bases, and
02:54taming alien wildlife.
02:56We've only gotten a few official peeks at the game, but it looks like a classic survival
03:00experience blended with the aesthetics of No Man's Sky, and the creature interactions
03:04of PowerWorld.
03:05That's right, Auroria is going to let you build some fancy alien labor camps.
03:10The video of base operations in Auroria look very similar to those in PowerWorld, and some
03:14promotional material for the game even refers to its alien creatures as PALs.
03:20In a social media post, Pocket Pair CEO Takeru Mizobe actually called out Auroria for seemingly
03:26copying his game, saying, quote,
03:29"...Tencent is already making a PowerWorld clone game.
03:32Amazing times."
03:33He also remarked on the idea that Tencent will be able to use ten times the amount of
03:37money that the small team at Pocket Pair had while developing PowerWorld.
03:41As of mid-December 2024, Auroria doesn't have an official release date, but its Steam
03:46listing has been updated throughout the year.
03:48We'd expect to see it debut in some form in the near future, at which point the clone
03:52discourse will no doubt erupt once again.