Pokémon Sleep's CEO has addressed recent allegations of plagiarism, expressing his deep disappointment over the claims. The plagiarism allegations had arisen from what appears to be derivations of works by community creators.
Select Button CEO Denies Claims of Plagiarizing Sleeping Pokémon Illustrations
Content Creator Insinuates Their Drawings Were Copied
Pokémon Sleep dev Select Button's CEO Nakahata Koya took to Twitter (X) to respond to accusations that the studio plagiarized fans' content art for some of the game's illustrations. "We have seen posts on social media stating that our company (SELECT BUTTON inc.) used [fan fiction] as a reference for the illustration of the sleeping faces of 'Pokémon Sleep,' and we feel deeply disappointed," Koya tweeted.
One such instance that was brought to their attention was a post that showed side-by-side illustrations of a sleeping Vulpix. On the left was the official game illustration of Vulpix sleeping, while on the right was a fan-created illustration, claimed by the creator to have been produced in February, of Vulpix in the exact same sleeping position. Since then, enclaves of fans have pointed fingers at Select Button and accused management of direct plagiarism.
"Some of the sleeping [illustrations] that appear in Pokémon Sleep were created based on the sleeping patterns that have appeared in previous Pokémon games," Koya further clarified. "We will never produce Pokémon sleeping faces by imitating works from fan fiction. We will continue to develop the game to bring out the best in Pokémon, and we hope you will look forward to seeing them in the future."
