Palworld Online, the mobile version of the creature collector, hits pre-registration in South Korea

• Palworld Online has seemingly hit pre-registration in South Korea
• A newly appeared Google Play listing shows off new screenshots and a trailer
• Palworld Online is the mobile version of the smash-hit creature collector/survival crafting sim

Palworld Online, the mobile version of the hit creature-collecting, survival-crafting sim, has seemingly hit pre-registration in South Korea. Or at least that's what its newly released Google Play listing seems to indicate. The listing includes a new trailer and a look at some of the gameplay of Palworld Online in action.

Palworld will be instantly recognisable to anyone with even a tangential interest in creature collectors. After years of caution by other developers, Palworld blew the doors off the Pokémon-like, although not without consequence, as Nintendo and The Pokémon Company quickly filed a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement.

Pikachu with guns

But even that legal threat hasn't slowed Palworld's popularity, and Palworld Online could be the next step in global fame for the burgeoning franchise. However, it's also coming up against some stiff competition in that regard, with both Honkai: Nexus Anima and Rocco Kingdom just two of the big names competing for the attention of creature-collector fans.

Personally, having seen both of those games in action, and seeing the trailer for Palworld Online above, I'm sceptical whether it'll reach the same level of success. While it looks competently made, Palworld Online lacks much of the colour and flair of Nexus Anima, or the recognisable name (at least in Asia) of Rocco Kingdom.

But either way, for Garena, this is a major new launch it's worth keeping an eye on. For the moment, it seems as if pre-registration is only available in South Korea, but we'll keep you updated if any of that changes.

In the meantime, if you need something to tide you over, why not take a look at our list of the five new mobile games to try this week? Our regular feature offers up a grab-bag of new launches from the last seven days which we reckon are worth playing.