Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair in Tokyo. Pocketpair is the Japanese video game developer behind Pal Worlda game that people have been describing as a parody of Pokémon, with cute gun-toting monsters. The game, released in Early Access on January 18, was an instant hit, selling 15 million copies on Steam and surpassing 25 million players. In just one month.
The Pokémon Company said a few days later Pal World The company revealed that it will investigate a game “released in January 2024” and that it will “take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe intellectual property rights related to Pokémon.” It appears that the investigation has ended and it has decided to take legal action.
“This lawsuit seeks an injunction against infringement and damages on the basis that Palworld, a game developed and released by Defendant, infringes multiple patent rights,” Nintendo said in its announcement of the lawsuit.
Pocketpair previously said that their game is more like Ark Survival Evolved and Valheim that Pokémon. The company's CEO, Takuro Mizobe, stated that Pal World “passed legal reviews” and no lawsuits were filed against Pocketpair regarding its development. From Palworld The monsters that Pokémon fans will find familiar take on a darker tone. You can choose to play as a friend of monsters known as “Pals” and fight off poachers who try to kill them. But you can also kill and eat Pals, have them fight to the death, and even sell them into slavery.
Shortly after Nintendo announced its lawsuit, Pocketpair replied“At this time, we are not aware of the specific patents we are accused of infringing and have not been notified of any such details,” the company wrote. “It is truly unfortunate that we are forced to spend significant time on matters unrelated to game development due to this lawsuit. However, we will do everything we can for our supporters and to ensure that independent game developers are not hindered or discouraged from pursuing their creative ideas.”
Update, September 19, 2024, 9:40 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with Pocketpair's response to Nintendo's lawsuit.
