Palworld Worldcolloquially known to fans as “Pokémon with guns”, is in trouble. Nintendo and The Pokémon Company announced on Thursday that they have filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Tokyo against Pocketpair, the company behind the game, alleging Palworld World “multiple patent infringements.”
The lawsuit is not entirely unexpected. In Palworld WorldPlayers capture creatures by weakening them and trapping them in Pal Spheres, similar to Poké Balls. Fans have also pointed out many similarities in design between Pals and Pokémon. Players can also drawing the wrath of Nintendo to create mods that make the connection more tangible by bringing in actual Pokémon.
Oddly, however, Nintendo’s claim alleges patent infringement, not copyright infringement. can be indicated This outfit may have more to do with game mechanics than creature design.
Palworld Worldreleased in January, is a instant success. In its first month, the open-world survival game sold over 12 million copies and has become Microsoft is the biggest Latest third-party Game Pass launches.
On Thursday, as news of the lawsuit broke, Pocketpair issued a statement saying the company was “unaware of the specific patents [it is] accused of trespassing,” but pledged to investigate the complaints.
The company says it will continue to work on improving the game; it has released a patch with fixes due earlier this week. “Unfortunately, we will have to spend a lot of time on non-game development issues due to this lawsuit,” declare read. “However, we will do our best for our fans and ensure that independent game developers are not hindered or discouraged from pursuing their creative ideas.”
Online, fans continued to voice their support for the game. “Instead of bullying smaller companies, the companies that come after you should make better products,” one X user wrote. wrote in response to Pocketpair’s post about the lawsuit. “Nintendo really needs to be humble, and competition is healthy for everyone involved,” wrote Others favor Nintendo, which—as Serkan Toto, CEO of game industry consultancy Kantan Games, noted on X—has a “legendary achievement (especially in Japan) regarding lawsuits like this.”
IN previous interviewPocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe has denied allegations of wrongdoing, saying “we have absolutely no intention of infringing on other companies’ intellectual property rights.”
Nintendo disagrees. In a released statement, the company said it “will continue to take necessary action against any infringement of its intellectual property, including the Nintendo brand, to protect the intellectual property rights it has worked so hard to build over the years.” The company has a long history of doing so. The biggest surprise here? That it took so long.
