These wretched bootleg Palworld costumes looks like they just shambled out of a Junji Ito nightmare, and they're not the only knock-offs making the rounds

An image of four rather horrifying unofficial Palworld costumes available on the AliExpress website.

(Image credit: AliExpress)

Palworld has now officially hit a level of popularity most can only dream of: the bootleg costume zone. I should reiterate up-front that these costumes aren't official products from Pocketpair—an important footnote, since no-one should be falsely accused of such crimes against nature.

As spied by VG247, Palworld players on the game's subreddit have dug up these pal costumes from AliExpress. Before I go any further, I should note that while I'm linking for prosperity's sake, I'm not sure if it's a great idea to spend your money on any of these websites. Browse responsibly.

Thanks i hate it Aliexpress from r/Palworld

The version I was able to find is lovingly titled: "Game Palworld Cosplay Bodysuit for Kids Adult Funny Grizzbolt Role-play Jumpsuit Halloween Carnival Party Stage PerformanCostume". I'm not sure what a PerformanCostume is, but also I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking at, either.

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The connective tissue between the mask and the body suit—presumably so you can breathe—makes these monstrosities look like they've had their necks stretched by an SCP, or a creepypasta you'd find on the mid-2010s internet. Meanwhile, their eye-holes are glowing for some reason, like a wandering spirit just found its home in their empty vessels.

These are far from the only knockoffs kicking about on the information highway. This "Halloween Carnival Suit" lets you dress up as Rayne Syndicate boss Zoe. Assuming you get what's advertised—which is a big assumption—there does appear to be more effort worked into this thing, including a tiny Grizzbolt plushie that dangles from the hip. I'm not sure I like how its claws are just loose bits of string, though. They look like the cordyceps from The Last of Us adaptation.

An image of a knock-off costume for Zoe from Palworld. — (Image credit: CosHD)

The crown jewel on my explorations? This hat. I am not sure why this hat has jowls that droop in ways I can only describe as 'testicular'. I am not sure why it looks like it's trying to eat the head of its host body, or why its ghibli-esque smile has been turned into a vicious sneer.

An image of a Palworld knockoff piece of merchandise: a grizzbolt hat with suspicious jowls. — (Image credit: Coshd)

Considering Palworld's initial runaway success, it's not shocking that companies might try to spin up some cheap merch—but jeez. I don't know if "morph suit with an elongated head" was on my radar. My thanks to the bootleg costume industry for giving me four sleep paralysis demons, I was getting too comfortable anyway.

Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.