Twitch streamer Asmongold has responded following a wave of criticism for his opinion on Palworld’s artistic merit and success, doubling down after some called his take “braindead.”
Palworld, the latest gaming sensation to top the charts on Steam, has generally been received positively, as indicated by the sky-high player numbers.
But, of course, such success has also generated scrutiny, particularly around the game’s development and obvious Pokemon inspiration, which some have suggested skirts the line of copying Pokemon’s designs.
Addressing the criticisms, Asmongold said that all that really matters is the opinion of the paying customer – in this case all 7 million+ of them – not the opinion of game artists.
Asmongold slammed for Palworld artists take
A particularly viral post of the clip was shared on X/Twitter, calling Asmongold’s view “actual braindead.”
“Artists opinions don’t matter. What matters is the opinion of the people buying the product.”Wewwwww boy what the hell lmao https://t.co/6ILurbq0gl
— JUM🅱️O (@bromojumbo) January 24, 2024
The criticism was shared by many, who felt Asmon’s disregard of the views of game developers and artists was dismissive.
Countless viral posts spawned as a result, many of them directly calling out Asmongold for making his own content thanks to the work of developers and artists.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
“Guy sits in filth, consuming things that wouldn’t exist without artists,” said Eric Bourdages, lead character artists on Dead By Daylight.
Guy sits in his filth, consuming things that wouldn't exist without artists. Shits on artists, shits on devs, shits on gamers probably shits on the floor in his bedroom and still somehow people will say he's based. Anyways don't listen to me, my opinion doesn't matter. https://t.co/ydPq5VLrzp
— Eric Bourdages (@EZE3D) January 24, 2024
Asmongold responds: “Am I wrong about this?”
Seeing the wave of criticism, Asmon responded, “Am I wrong about this? Looking at so many people angry with what I said is kind of shocking to me.
When you go to market with a product, the only thing that matters is the consumer’s perception of that product’s value. When did this become wrong?”
Am I wrong about this?Looking at so many people angry with what I said is kind of shocking to meWhen you go to market with a product, the only thing that matters is the consumers perception of that products value.When did this become wrong? https://t.co/3CP2XJtak7
— Zack (@Asmongold) January 24, 2024
When game artist Pilgrim highlighted that games like Asmongold’s favorite World of Warcraft are “handcrafted by insanely talented people,” Asmon argued that it is only valued because the fans give it value.
You're absolutely right but the value those things have exists because people like me say it doesOne of the special things about almost all art is that it has no intrinsic value or function and instead is valued subjectively
— Zack (@Asmongold) January 24, 2024
Despite the protestations from some, Palworld’s success is certainly unaffected. The game eclipsed 2 million concurrent players on Steam – only the second game ever to achieve this figure after PUBG.