On September 18th, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company filed a lawsuit against game developer Pocketpair for violating the Pokémon patent. Nintendo and The Pokémon Company allege that the game Palworld infringed on Pokémon. The creators of the open-world action game have recently responded to the lawsuit, claiming that the accusations are false. Here’s what we know so far.

In Case You Missed It

Palworld is an action game released in January that was quickly deemed “Pokémon with guns.” The game’s premise was very similar to the Nintendo titles, from the characters to the game’s purpose to the fighting mechanics. You are running around a fantasy world, catching these animal-like creatures called Pals. Once you see them, you can use them in combat, as food, or to help build your environment.

The gaming community quickly accepted Palworld despite its obvious resemblance to Pokémon. A significant contributing factor to this acceptance, and rarely anyone bringing up the similarities in a negative connotation, is Nintendo’s continued disappointments with Pokémon. The most recent disappointing Pokémon release was Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, which had many compatibility issues with the Nintendo Switch, the only console on which the game was released. Many felt that Pocketpair, the developers of Palworld, answered a much-needed call for a better Pokémon game.

Nintendo’s Lawsuit

It had been rumored and highly anticipated that Nintendo would be filing a lawsuit against Pocketpair for the game, but many had begun to think Nintendo wouldn’t, given how long it’s been since the release. Regardless of the time that has passed, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company officially filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair that sought “compensation for damages,” according to the official press release. 

As of right now, it’s unclear whether Nintendo will seek compensation for damages only or request that the company remove the game from platforms. Of course, removing the game is most likely to happen, but it’s also possible that Nintendo will require Pocketpair to pay them royalties for their intellectual property.

The CEO of Pocketpair has consistently denied that Palworld infringed on Nintendo’s IP in any way, claiming that the game passed legal reviews. Although he’s never provided proof for this, it wasn’t enough to convince even fans of the game that it wasn’t a direct copy of Pokémon.

Pocketpair’s Response

On September 19th, Pocketpair posted a statement to its official X account responding to Nintendo and The Pokémon Company’s joint lawsuit. “Regarding the lawsuit,” the message began, “Yesterday, a lawsuit was filed against our company for patent infringement. We have received notice of this lawsuit and will begin the appropriate legal proceedings and investigations into the patent infringement claim. We are unaware of the patents we are accused of infringing upon, and we have not been notified of such details.”

The statement continued, “Pocketpair is a small indie game company based in Tokyo. Our goal as a company has always been to create fun games. We will continue to pursue this goal because we know that our games bring joy to millions of gamers worldwide. Palworld was a surprise success this year for us and the gamers. The amazing response to the game blew us away, and we have been working hard to make it even better for our fans. We will continue improving Palworld and strive to create a game that our fans can be proud of.”

The statement finishes by addressing the effects that the lawsuit will have on Pocketpair, “It is truly unfortunate that we will be forced to allocate significant time to matters unrelated to game development due to this lawsuit. However, we will do our utmost for our fans and to ensure that indie game developers are not hindered or discouraged from pursuing their creative ideas.” The message finishes by apologizing to fans if the lawsuit caused any discomfort.

Conclusion

Pocketpair is doing something interesting by framing the lawsuit as an issue between indie game developers and AAA developers. This will turn the issue into a larger one that eclipses a simple dispute about patents and may win Pocketpair the court of public opinion. Regardless, it’s clear that the developers are willing to fight for Palworld and will allocate time and funds to do so. This is still a developing story; we will await the next update.

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