On 18 September, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company filed a lawsuit against Pocket Pair, the developer of Palworld. The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief and damages, claiming that Palworld infringes numerous patent rights.

Infringement of intellectual property rights

Nintendo representatives stated that they would continue to take action against infringements of intellectual property rights.

This statement comes after months of speculation that Nintendo might file a lawsuit against an indie survival game called Pokémon with guns. In January, Nintendo released a statement promising to investigate and take appropriate action against any potentially offending content.

In June, Pocket Pair, the developer of Palworld, said that Nintendo had not yet filed a complaint in connection with the ‘Pokémon theft’ claims. Pocket Pair CEO Takuro Mizobe expressed his love and respect for Pokémon. He said that he comes from the generation that grew up with Pokémon.

Now, Pocket Pair says that they could refuse to use Pokémon. However, the deep mechanics of the game and its popularity will not allow them to do so.

The first criticism of Palworld

The adventure game Palworld was released in early access in January 2024 and has been a great success, but also faced controversy. Pokémon fans pointed out the similarities between Palworld and Pokémon. In turn, Pocket Pair insisted that the game is more similar to crafting games such as Ark Survival Evolved and Valheim. The negative reaction to Palworld even resulted in the team receiving death threats, according to Pocket Pair’s community manager.