Nintendo is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with Pocketpair, the Japanese developer of the hit game Palworld. This is not entirely surprising. The game has many features and designs that resemble some things in the Pokémon universe. This is not uncommon across gaming, but that has never been something Nintendo, a company who tries to cease and desist fan-made games, takes too kindly to.
Now, there’s a petition growing on Change.org that is urging the publishing giant to drop the lawsuit. Palworld is a very popular game, and it developed a fan base that appreciated what it brought to the genre and how it did things that Pokémon games have been unwilling to do. Here’s what you need to know about the never-ending Nintendo vs Palworld lawsuit.
When Palworld first dropped, players noticed striking similarities in design between some of the “pals” and popular Pokémon. That naturally sparked the thought that the litigious Nintendo might act. They did, but not because of the similar character designs.
Instead, they sued for patent infringement, not copyright infringement. The character designs were apparently not of much concern, but game mechanics like capturing Pals and riding them was a bridge too far for Nintendo.
The patents in question involve video game systems for capturing creatures, riding creatures in an open world, and transitioning between creatures, as well as aiming and firing items to start combat. This has been prevalent in the last two Pokémon games, Legends: Arceus and Scarlet/Violet.
Palworld stated that they were not aware of Nintendo’s patents and made tweaks to the gameplay to try and amend their apparent oversight, but the publishing company didn’t drop the lawsuit. To make matters even more interesting, some of the patents are divisional by nature, which means they were filed after the lawsuit and designed specifically to target Palworld.
On July 25, IGN reported that Nintendo had changed the wording on one of the patents involved in the Nintendo vs Palworld lawsuit, which is a strange move so late in this saga. Doing this mid-case is legal as long as it doesn’t introduce any new concepts or technical matter, which this does not.
This typically only happens if the litigant, which is Nintendo, feels there’s risk enough that the patent will be deemed invalid, so they reworded it to make it stronger and more verbose. It is highly likely that this was done to make it that much harder to dismiss the case.
There is an aforementioned petition on Change.org to get Nintendo to drop the lawsuit. It is seen as anti-consumer and anti-competition in the video game sphere, which in general is frowned upon. Sadly, there has not been much traction for Nintendo’s Palworld Petition.
It has over 800 signatures in the months since it was put up. It is slowly gaining signatures, but not at a rate fast enough to catch Nintendo’s eye. It’s also highly likely, since petitions are not legally binding, that Nintendo would ignore it anyway.
Fans have also not stopped taking to Reddit to complain about the situation. To many, it boggles the mind that Nintendo is doing this and that it hasn’t been thrown out or ignored.
Image via r/gaming
Another said that the Japanese laws that allow for this sort of lawsuit are quite unfortunate and it’s ridiculous that Nintendo has been able to patent some of the mechanics anyway.
Image via r/gaming
Suffice it to say, fans aren’t happy, but that has not stopped Nintendo from seemingly rolling right along with its lawsuit. It is currently unclear how this will resolve and what the future holds for Palworld.
Featured image credit: Pocketpair, Inc.
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