That includes a character dressed like Hyperlink and a creature that appears like Pikachu, upcoming Steam recreation Pickmon is not afraid to cover the video games it is clearly, er, impressed by.
A preliminary trailer for Pickmon, under, begins with Hyperlink, or whoever the principle character is meant to be, leaping from a clifftop that is clearly a riff on Breath of the Wild’s Nice Plateau, whereas familiar-sounding piano notes tinkle away within the background.
Not-Hyperlink deploys his glider, and is proven to have a not-Pikachu clinging onto his shoulder. A dragon-like creature undoubtedly not based mostly on Rayquaza then additionally drifts previous — and that is all within the trailer’s first two seconds.
PickMon | Summer time Recreation Fest 2026 Trailer | Pockegame
That is the official account of PickMon. #PickMon is a model new multiplayer monster-collecting recreation with open-world survival components! 🧭Open world survival crafting recreation for as much as 32 gamers! 🔫Collect your weapons and go on… pic.twitter.com/IdR6byINRk— PickMon /ピックモン (@PickMon_EN) March 6, 2026
The subsequent couple of minutes of Pickmon footage provide rather more of the identical, with creatures acquainted to each Pokémon and the gun-toting Friends of Palworld (the earlier Pokémon-like recreation to land on Steam, which can be nonetheless the topic of a Pokémon Firm lawsuit), in addition to some rudimentary base-building and farming mechanics.
The trailer concludes with a immediate to go wishlist Pickmon on Steam now, and to look out for a future launch that is reasonably ambitiously “deliberate for Nintendo Change and PlayStation.”
Let’s be trustworthy right here, all the pieces about this trailer appears set to spark apparent comparisons to Nintendo properties. Even the secret’s developer, Pokegame, appears a part of the bit. For an indie developer seeking to launch its first recreation, it is a secure option to seize consideration — and if Nintendo was to start out authorized motion, properly, that is much more publicity assured. And already, a Pokémon player has claimed Pickman copied one of their designs for a Pokémon fan design, too.
After all, it stays to be seen whether or not Nintendo will hassle getting concerned. Whereas the comparisons between Pickmon and Pokémon are removed from delicate, Nintendo presently appears to have gotten slowed down in its earlier Palworld lawsuit, which has dragged on for over a yr whereas Palworld itself stays on sale, albeit with a few minor gameplay tweaks.
Maybe notably, Pickmon doesn’t appear to incorporate the identical catch mechanic as Pokémon, which Palworld initially contained at launch, earlier than tweaking. As an alternative of creatures being caught and unleashed from a ball, Pickmon appears to have them being summoned forth from magic playing cards.
“What if we take Palworld, and take its designs EVEN CLOSER to the unique Pokémon designs had been impressed and even dare promising a launch on Change?” wrote one fan after seeing Pickmon in motion. “That is the smash bros ‘everyone seems to be right here’ trailer of plagerism [sic],” mentioned one other. “We have now Pikachu at house ass trailer,” mentioned a third.
However regardless of the criticism, it is laborious to think about Pickmon’s developer is upset about all the eye. Whether or not it’s going to now additionally achieve the eye of Nintendo, nonetheless, stays to be seen.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s Information Editor. You’ll be able to attain Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or discover him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social