'Pickmon,' which has faced plagiarism allegations involving various games—including Pokémon—and accusations of stealing fan art, is now actively responding on social media after the developers recently changed the game's title to 'Pickmos.' However, the atmosphere has turned even colder as the developers insist there are no legal issues regarding the alleged theft of fan art.

In March, the open-world survival game Pickmon, published by NETWORKGO and developed by PocketGame, was released on Steam. On April 10, the company announced it had changed the game's title to Pickmos. The developer stated that the change was made to better align the title with the brand's identity and worldview, explaining that the suffix '-mos' symbolizes a complete ecosystem and the vast cosmos, reflecting their goal of building a unique and deep ecosystem.

However, the community has criticized the name change as a mere attempt to bury the game's controversies. Released in March, Pickmon (now Pickmos) is a crafting game centered on monster collection, base building, and automation. Since its debut, it has been hit with plagiarism allegations ranging from monster designs reminiscent of Pokémon and gameplay similar to Palworld, to character designs and glider systems resembling The Legend of Zelda, and characters similar to those in Overwatch.

In particular, some monster designs showed such a high degree of similarity to fan art that they sparked outrage among fans.

The developers have been posting their own opinions on their official social media accounts. However, rather than engaging in constructive communication, they have been criticized for making excuses and engaging in petty confrontations. When confronted with similarities to characters like Roadhog from Overwatch or other official works, they took a step back, claiming they would consult with their art director.

Conversely, they insisted there were no issues regarding the similarities to the work of the fan artist in question. They argued that they have a professional team handling trademark applications and that the artist does not hold a trademark for the design. They even went as far as asking the fan artist to provide proof of their trademark rights for the design.

The developer's attitude did not change even after the fan artist spoke up. el.psy.fake, the artist whose fan art is suspected of being stolen by Pickmon, posted on social media that unlike non-commercial fan art, one should not use another person's franchise for profit without permission. In response, the official Pickmos account offered 'advice,' stating that regardless of whether the artist profits from it, they should not use the Pokémon logo in unofficial content.

Copyright and trademark rights, including logos, may not be protected even in non-commercial use. However, The Pokémon Company and Nintendo have generally tolerated wholesome fan art, provided it does not involve playable fan games or commercial exploitation. This can be seen as the Pokémon side viewing fan art as a way to maintain IP vitality and generate marketing effects rather than as trademark infringement.

On the other hand, Pickmos' attempt to deflect the fan art theft allegations by criticizing the victim's own practices has only fueled further backlash from the community.

Meanwhile, Pickmon previously included the phrase 'Summer Game Fest 2026 Trailer' in the title of its trailer. This event, hosted by Geoff Keighley, is a summer gaming event unrelated to the game's footage. Although the trailer title has since been changed, the tag 'summergamefest2026' remains, allowing the video to still appear in search results.