An MMORPG in the Pokémon universe would likely be the gaming dream for many trainers. A fan product on Roblox makes this fantasy a reality. “Pokémon Brick Bronze” is a full-fledged MMORPG with social networking features. Here, you set out into the colorful world of pocket monsters together with your friends to become the very best trainer.
Since my childhood, I have been breathing in everything that is Pokémon and have been dreaming for ages of a game that lets me dive deeper into the universe of pocket monsters.
Making friendships, training together, trading, and collecting are at the core of Pokémon. MMORPGs provide us the opportunity to immerse ourselves in another reality together with friends or strangers and forget about everyday life for a moment. Pokémon simply fits an MMORPG, and there would be plenty of material for an exciting story and interesting gameplay.
However, there is still no high-quality professionally produced MMORPG from Pokémon.
Pokémon Brick Bronze fulfills the dream of a Pokémon MMORPG
It is not an official version but a fan product. But Pokémon Brick Bronze fulfills the dream of a full-fledged MMO in the universe of pocket monsters.
This is a free-to-play Pokémon MMORPG that you can play on PC, Mac, iOS, Android, and Xbox. Pokémon Brick Bronze has been in development since 2015.
In Pokémon Brick Bronze, there are the same things to do as you would expect from a “normal” Pokémon game: Go on adventure journeys, catch, train, trade, and battle Pokémon. Many of the original Pokémon from the franchise are represented with their known models, alongside the classic gameplay and unique elements.
On the day you enter the game, you wake up in your parent’s house, just like in the handheld games. Then you go to the professor to choose your first Pokémon. In the Roblox version, there are all 18 starters. The adventure can begin, and you stroll through tall grass, battle trainers, criminals like Team Rocket, and gym leaders. In the Roblox version, your parents are archaeologists who have discovered a dark secret of the Pokémon world and are therefore being chased by criminals.
The biggest difference between Pokémon Brick Bronze and the original games is that you – as is customary for an MMORPG – experience the adventure together with other players.
The Roblox platform makes the Pokémon MMORPG in Lego style possible
The Roblox platform allows for the creation of virtual worlds. These worlds have an angular style and resemble Lego productions. Roblox has approximately 56 million active players.
Playing a Roblox game is super easy. You only need to download the client, design your character, and press the big “Play” button. And the game starts. Roblox is simple but also offers a lot of creative freedom.
Most Roblox games are free. However, many of the games offer upgrades that can be purchased with Robux. Robux is the premium currency of the platform and can be purchased with real money.
On Roblox, there are even more Pokémon fan games, many of which use the official models of the franchise. Pokémon Brick Bronze is by far the most popular Pokémon game on the platform and even appears under the “Games” section on the homepage.
Is such a copy of the Pokémon franchise even legal?
One should not completely ignore that Pokémon Brick Bronze has “borrowed” many of the original elements of the franchise.
The models of the Pokémon are exactly copied, and the gameplay or even the official logo has been adopted. This makes fans feel right at home and allows them to dive deeper into this universe. Nevertheless, one must ask whether there is no copyright infringement – Even if the story of Pokémon Brick Bronze is largely original and self-made.
Fan products are not bad in themselves and help the community and the game to grow. It only becomes problematic when money comes into play. Through the DevEx program, developers can earn money through Roblox games. The developers can exchange Robux, which they earn, for real money.
There have already been cases where the copyright of Pokémon games has been contested. Pokémon Uranium and Pokémon Prism both did not come from Nintendo and received a DMCA notice from The Pokémon Company. DMCA stands for “Digital Millennium Copyright Act” and is a US law that deals with copyright issues.
Where there is no plaintiff, there is no judge
However, different rules apply to Pokémon Brick Bronze as it was developed via the Roblox platform. Roblox is comparable to YouTube in this case. The developers are users of the platform and use Roblox tools to create content that can be consumed by fans.
Roblox states about itself that they strongly believe in protecting intellectual property. They claim that they remove content from Roblox as soon as the intellectual property owner comes forward. In this case, that would be Nintendo.
The DMCA law states that operators of user-generated content need a “safe harbor” to protect themselves. As long as Roblox provides a way to accept DMCA notices, they are in the legal area. An email address is sufficient.
As long as Nintendo does not assert copyrights against Pokémon Brick Bronze, everything is in the (gray) green area.
Pokémon Brick Bronze – Gameplay video
In the video below, you can take a look at the gameplay of Pokémon Brick Bronze. Here, the YouTuber Foey battles against the creator of Brick Bronze. His alias is Lando64000, and he is considered an absolute legend in the community – explaining the excitement of the player in the video.
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