Ever since Palworld’s early access launch in January 2024, members of the gaming community have dubbed it “Pokémon with guns” due to its resemblance to the popular Japanese media franchise. It seems that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are finally taking action, as the pair have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the game’s developer Pocketpair.
Nintendo has posted a statement via a press release, which reads:
“Filing Lawsuit for Infringement of Patent Rights against Pocketpair, Inc.
Nintendo Co., Ltd. (HQ: Kyoto, Minami-ku, Japan; Representative Director and President: Shuntaro Furukawa, “Nintendo” hereafter), together with The Pokémon Company, filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court against Pocketpair, Inc. (HQ: 2-10-2 Higashigotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, “Defendant” hereafter) on September 18, 2024.
This 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.
Nintendo will continue to take necessary actions against any infringement of its intellectual property rights including the Nintendo brand itself, to protect the intellectual properties it has worked hard to establish over the years.“
Palworld, which was released via early access on Steam, became an instant hit among gamers, selling over 4 million copies over three days. The game took the familiar premise of catching cute monsters (referred to as Pals) but with a rather notable twist: guns. This was in stark contrast to the more family-friendly nature of the Pokémon series and was seemingly what drew players to the title.
Of course, the game’s popularity didn’t come without its fair share of criticism, with players noting the striking resemblance of some of its creature designs to those of the Pokémon franchise, promptly calling out Palworld for the alleged ripoffs. This also did not go unnoticed by The Pokémon Company, who issued a statement that said it would investigate if the game did infringe on its copyright.
Although it is unknown how Nintendo and The Pokémon Company will angle their current lawsuit, it is more than likely that their focus will be on the stark design similarities between Palworld’s creatures and that of Pokémon’s design.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Si Jia
