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Nintendo Sues Pocketpair Over Alleged Patent Infringement Related to Palworld
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are taking legal action against Pocketpair, the developers of Palworld, a game often described by fans as "Pokémon with guns." The companies filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Tokyo on Thursday, asserting that Palworld "infringes multiple patent rights."
This lawsuit doesn’t come as a complete shock. In Palworld, players capture creatures by weakening them and encasing them in Pal Spheres, which resemble Poké Balls from the Pokémon franchise. Critics have highlighted numerous design similarities between the game’s creatures, known as Pals, and Pokémon. Additionally, there have been player-created modifications that explicitly incorporate actual Pokémon, which has further enraged Nintendo.
Interestingly, Nintendo’s lawsuit focuses on patent violations rather than copyright infringement. This suggests that the legal arguments may center more on game mechanics than on the designs of the creatures themselves.
Released in January, Palworld quickly gained popularity, selling over 12 million copies in its first month and becoming Microsoft’s most successful third-party Game Pass launch to date.
In response to the lawsuit, Pocketpair issued a statement indicating that the company was "unaware of the specific patents [it is] accused of infringing upon," but promised to look into the matter thoroughly.
Pocketpair is committed to continuing its game development efforts and recently released a patch to address various bugs. The company expressed regret that the lawsuit would divert significant time away from game development, stating, "It is truly unfortunate that we will be forced to allocate significant time to matters unrelated to game development due to this lawsuit." They further emphasized their commitment to fans and to supporting indie developers in pursuing their creative endeavors.
Online, the game’s fan base has rallied to support Pocketpair. One user remarked, "Instead of bullying smaller companies, the ones going after you guys should make better products." Another added that "Nintendo really needs to be humbled," suggesting that healthy competition benefits everyone. However, some users backed Nintendo, noting its longstanding reputation for protecting its intellectual property.
In earlier interviews, Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe defended the company against accusations of infringement, asserting, "We have absolutely no intention of infringing upon the intellectual property of other companies."
Nintendo, on the other hand, maintains that it will continue to take all necessary actions to safeguard its intellectual property rights, which it has diligently cultivated over the years. Given its history of enforcing such rights, some analysts wonder why it took this long for Nintendo to act against Palworld.
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