Summary
Last night,Nintendoannounced that ithad filed a patent infringement lawsuitagainstPalworld, the viral indie game that became known as ‘Pokemonwith guns’immediately after its announcement in 2021. However, developer Pocketpair isn’t backing down, and has since responded on Twitter, revealing that it plans to fight the suit on behalf of indie developers.
We have received notice of this lawsuit and will begin the appropriate legal proceedings and investigations into the claims of patent infringement.
“Pocketpair is a small indie game company based in Tokyo. Our goal as a company has always been to create fun games,“Pocketpair said in its statement. “We will continue to pursue this goal because we know that our games bring joy to millions of gamers around the world.
“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.”
Nintendo Is Suing Palworld For Infringing On “Multiple Patent Rights”
It has been abundantly clear since Palworld launched that itat least took inspiration from Pokemonwhen it came to its creature designs, with some striking similarities that are undeniable when placed side-by-side. Fans have been waiting for the penny to drop, and it finally has, as Nintendo’s lawsuit is seeking compensation for damages over infringements of “multiple patent rights”. We don’t know exactly what that means, whether it’s more focused on the mechanics than the Pals or the designs themselves, but this is something that people have seen coming since January.
If it’s about mechanics,Palworld doesn’t really play like a Pokemon game. It’s more of a survival sandbox akin toArk, but it does have similar creature-catching and battle mechanics, which may be the focus of Nintendo’s ire. That is purely speculation, however, as Nintendo has not provided information on what exactly broke the patent rights.
Pocketpair has not divulged this information either, saying in its statement that it is also “unaware of the specific patents we are accused of infringing upon, and we have not been notified of such details.”
Palworld
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Palworld has been described as Pokemon with guns and well, it’s hard to argue with that. The game is very similar in nature to the Pokemon formula, tasking you with catching and working with monsters called Pals. There are key differences, though. Palworld is rooted in multiplayer, oh, and, unlike Pokemon, its Pals have guns.
