After a lot of speculation from fans, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have revealed that they are suing Palworld, alleging the game “infringes multiple patent rights”.
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Palworld has long been dubbed “Pokémon with guns” due to it being a creature capture game with many monsters that look similar to iconic Pokémon designs, but it was noted on release that its gameplay differs greatly and is more comparable to a survival game like Ark.
When the game released back in January, The Pokémon Company stated it intended “to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon.” NME has reached out to Nintendo for comment.
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company’s statement revealed they were filing “a patent infringement lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court” against Palworld developer Pocketpair, and that the lawsuit “seeks an injunction against infringement and compensation for damages on the grounds that Palworld, a game developed and released by the Defendant, infringes multiple patent rights.” NME has reached out to Pocketpair for comment.
As for why Palworld is only being sued now – almost nine months after Nintendo claimed it would start an investigation – a company representative told Game File: “We filed the lawsuit at this timing after careful investigation of the content that is the subject of this lawsuit. We will refrain from commenting on topics that relate to the content of the lawsuit.”
In January, a former Pokémon legal boss, Don McGowan, said of Palworld, “This looks like the usual ripoff nonsense that I would see a thousand times a year when I was chief legal officer of Pokémon. I’m just surprised it got this far.”
However, Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “we would appreciate it if you would refrain from slandering the artists involved with Palworld.”
In other news, Frostpunk 2 has been released to high praise from critics.
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