Nintendo Fans Connect Palworld Lawsuit To Switch 2 Leaks
It's been a wild week for Nintendo. Over less than 24 hours, the company faced major Switch 2 leaks and began the process of suing "Palworld" developer Pocketpair for patent infringement. In fact, the close timing has made fans think that the sudden whirlwind of activity is more than simple coincidence.
Early on September 18, alleged images and hardwares specs for the Nintendo Switch 2 suddenly popped up on Reddit and X. You can't always rely on leaks, but these look to be fairly legitimate. Gamers naturally started sharing the news everywhere online and preparing for Nintendo to make a formal announcement. Later in the day, however, Nintendo dropped a bombshell when it filed its "Palworld" lawsuit alongside The Pokémon Company. In a public statement, Pocketpair responded to the lawsuit by saying, "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."
Regarding the Lawsuit
Yesterday, a lawsuit was filed against our company for patent infringement.
We have received notice of this lawsuit and will begin the appropriate legal proceedings and investigations into the claims of patent infringement.
At this moment, we are unaware...
— Palworld (@Palworld_EN) September 19, 2024
Fans know that "Palworld" is more than a "Pokemon" clone, but hardly anyone is truly surprised that Nintendo is suing the devs. However, the timing came as a surprise to some. After all, "Palworld" has been out for months and Nintendo has not indicated any desires to sue the developers. Even people without tinfoil hats have started to think there might be a connection between this week's biggest pieces of Nintendo news.
The leak that everyone saw coming
We've all known the Switch 2 would be coming out sooner or later. The original Switch came out all the way back in 2017, and its golden years have actually featured some of its best games, like "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" and "Super Mario Bros. Wonder." Still, the Switch is getting pretty dated, and Nintendo recently confirmed plans to release a new console in the near future. Fans probably wouldn't have needed to wait much longer for an official look at the Switch's successor, but it seems like leakers have beaten Nintendo to the punch.
Rumor: leaked photos of Nintendo Switch 2 design https://t.co/YLeJgmvywH
"While the images are unverified, one source, who has not seen the final ' Switch 2' console but has been briefed on Nintendo's plans, told VGC that the Reddit images match what the company has told... pic.twitter.com/0zqvUM4SnR
— Wario64 (@Wario64) September 18, 2024
The leaks include images and specs for the Switch 2, which really does look like a sleeker, more powerful version of the Switch. If these leaks are real, Nintendo is unsurprisingly doubling down on the success of the Switch's form factor. The way you play games on the new console will be very much the way you played them on the Switch, but there appear to be some much-needed design updates: The new console will reportedly sport a significantly larger OLED screen, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage, plus a much newer CPU/GPU unit. Nintendo hasn't confirmed that the leaks are accurate, but sources close to VGC say "the Reddit images match what the company has told partners to expect from its design." It seems like we really could be looking at a mock-up of the Switch 2.
Is the Palworld lawsuit just a coping mechanism?
The existence of the Switch 2 isn't exactly surprising anyone — after all, it may have been in developers' hands as early as 2023 — but this leak is no doubt frustrating for Nintendo. The company undoubtedly had a big rollout planned, but now it may need to pivot. Some fans think that's exactly what the company is doing with this "Palworld" lawsuit.
Nintendo dropping the Palworld lawsuit to distract people from Switch 2 leaks pic.twitter.com/3KE7wEEZTv
— Orenji (@MunchingOrange) September 19, 2024
Some find the timing of the lawsuit a little suspicious, and they're under the impression that Nintendo is really just trying to bury news about the Switch 2 leaks. Others think Nintendo is taking advantage of the extra attention from the leaks to really drive its point home with the lawsuit filing.
Nintendo suing Palworld the same day the Switch 2 leaks pic.twitter.com/imYZDVEhtv
— Coney (@CONEY) September 18, 2024
Then again, maybe Nintendo is just making this move to make up for the fact that these leaks make the company look a little disorganized, especially after everyone's been waiting so long for the Switch 2 announcement.
nintendo saw the switch 2 leaks and got so mad they casually decided to send palworld to the deepest pit of hell just to feel a little better https://t.co/Z9dvG5PZs5 pic.twitter.com/KsuXJ6hpYc
— Kevosan! (@_kevosan) September 18, 2024
Other, less conspiratorially-minded folk think that Nintendo is just venting a little of its frustration on Pocketpair. Regardless of the true reasoning behind the lawsuit, it could have a serious effect on a smaller company like Pocketpair. People will probably forget about these leaks after the Switch 2 is officially announced, but small devs aren't going to forget how ferociously Nintendo protects its patent rights anytime soon.