Palworld Breaks Silence On Just How Bad The Nintendo Lawsuit Really Is

Gamers fell in love with "Palworld" when it debuted earlier this year, and fans got worried when Nintendo revealed it was suing "Palworld" developer Pocketpair for patent infringement. Now Pocketpair has unveiled some new information about Nintendo's lawsuit, and people are surprised by the specifics. Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have targeted three different patents with the lawsuit. It's worth noting that all of these patents were actually filed after Pocketpair released "Palworld," but Nintendo was able to make it work for this case through parent patenting. Essentially, the company connected its recent patent applications to earlier, already-approved patents, and that technicality has opened up Pocketpair to a lawsuit.

Nintendo is seeking 10 million yen in damages, or roughly $66,000, as well as an injunction against the game's manufacture and release. That's not much when compared to the game's unprecedented levels of success, but then again, "Palworld" has lost a huge chunk of its playerbase since its release. Ultimately, it's hard to say how much the lawsuit, or a potential Nintendo victory, will affect Pocketpair or "Palworld" itself. Here's what we know about the suit facing Pocketpair.

As soon as the first "Palworld" trailer dropped, some people were pretty sure Nintendo was going to come after the game. Most probably expected the company to pursue a copyright infringement case against the "Pokémon with guns" approach that "Palworld" took, but Nintendo seems to think that claims of patent violation is a better path to victory. 

We can't say for certain what reasoning led Nintendo to file its lawsuit, but we can say what parts of "Palworld" it's taking aim at. The three patents that Nintendo claims Pocketpair violated all concern aspects of rendering characters and objects in a 3D open world. The patents also cover the technical side of specific game mechanics, like throwing a ball to capture wild Pals in a field and getting to ride Pals around the world. Nintendo's patents seem to connect back to mechanics seen in "Pokémon Legends: Arceus," but the company doesn't necessarily need to prove that Pocketpair stole aspects of the "Pokémon" franchise. It'll be enough for Nintendo to argue that various "Palworld" elements are too similar to the patents.

It's hard to say what the fallout of Nintendo's "Palworld" lawsuit will be. When the suit was first filed, Pocketpair announced its commitment to fight out the case in an official statement, writing, "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."

When Pocketpair reported the details of the lawsuit on November 8, the company doubled down on its commitment, saying, "We will continue to assert our position in this case through future legal proceedings." Nintendo isn't seeking a huge sum of money from Pocketpair, but the process of fighting the case could still prove to be a strain on such a small studio. At the very least, the lawsuit hasn't dissuaded Pocketpair from expanding "Palworld" as much as possible. The game is still getting regular updates, and thanks to a partnership between Pocketpair and Sony, it recently landed on PS5. However, some PlayStation fans are scared to buy the game, fearing the lawsuit could result in the early demise of the game. Those fears are only becoming more pronounced with the latest news.