Nintendo and Pokémon filed suit this week, but Palworld developers will fight for their truth…
Palworld developer Pocketpair has responded to news that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have filed a patent lawsuit against it. On Wednesday, Nintendo and TPC filed the lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court, seeking an injunction against infringement and damages “on the grounds that Palworld… infringes multiple patent rights.”
Now, in its own statement published on Thursday, Pocketpair wrote that it is “truly unfortunate that we will be forced to allocate significant time to matters unrelated to game development.”
“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,” they write.
Released through Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview in January, the monster-hunting survival game Palworld was an instant hit. According to Pocketpair, it attracted 25 million players in its first month.
However, the game’s massive success sparked controversy due to perceived similarities between the character designs of Palworld and the Pokémon games.
However, since the lawsuit filed this week is a patent lawsuit — and not a copyright lawsuit — it suggests that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company’s complaint is likely to focus on gameplay inventions and not similarities between character designs.
As stated in its aforementioned statement, Pocketpair claims that it is “unaware of the specific patents we are accused of infringing upon” and that it has not been notified.
In a statement, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company announced: “Nintendo will continue to take necessary actions against any infringement of its intellectual property rights, including the Nintendo brand itself, to protect the intellectual properties it has worked hard to establish over the years.”
