Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have filed a lawsuit against Pocketpair, the Japanese developer and publisher of Palworld.
In a press release, the plaintiffs said they’re seeking “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.”
No further details were provided, so it’s unclear exactly what Nintendo and The Pokémon Company (of which Nintendo holds minority ownership) are planning to include in the lawsuit. However, people had long expected the companies to take legal action against Pocketpair, given how closely Palworld resembles Pokémon with many of its creature designs and overall monster taming mechanics. The game, which people have referred to as “Pokémon with guns,” has been a major success, having sold over 15 million copies.
Therefore, people have assumed the ever-litigious Nintendo would have some sort of legal response. Earlier in the year, the Japanese gaming giant said it would “investigate” after receiving many inquiries about “another company’s game released in January 2024,” making an indirect reference to Palworld.
Regarding the Lawsuit
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 claims of patent infringement.
At this moment, we are unaware…
— Palworld (@Palworld_EN) September 19, 2024
In response to the lawsuit, Pocketpair took to X (Twitter) to claim it’s “unaware of the specific patents we are accused of infringing upon, and we have not been notified of such details.” The company went on to say it’s preparing to defend itself in court while expressing frustration over the situation.
“It is truly unfortunate that we will be forced to allocate significant time to matters unrelated to game development due to this lawsuit,” wrote Pocketpair. “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.”
It remains to be seen what will come out of the lawsuit. Given that it took Nintendo and The Pokémon Company the better part of a year to move forward with legal action, though, it would seem they have least something that would hold up in court.
Image credit: Pocketpair
Source: Nintendo
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