The legal battle the Big N launched two years ago is reportedly nearing its end, and the odds are not in its favor – Nintendo may be preparing for defeat.

When Palworld was unveiled in 2024, although no one knew in advance how big a success it would become, everyone expected Nintendo to try to do something to stop it. Not much time passed before an investigation was announced, followed by the Big N’s official lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair. Although Nintendo was Goliath and Pocketpair was David in this legal battle, it now looks as though Pocketpair will win, since Nintendo apparently can only squeeze a modest $30,000 out of Pocketpair, and there is no hope of actually removing Palworld from PC and consoles.

According to Gamesfray, the case is finally nearing its end, with both sides submitting evidence and motions that will be presented to the court on October 1, before the court issues its decision on November 9. Since Nintendo’s case is now limited to earlier versions of Palworld that do not include the changes made by Pocketpair, even a final judgment in Nintendo’s favor would not feel like a victory. The upper limit for financial damages is 5 million yen, which equals the previously mentioned $30,000. That is nothing compared with the $40 million Nintendo has seemingly spent on patent lawsuits in recent years.

Nintendo may have started with momentum and tried to destroy Pocketpair by invoking patents, but this strategy never looked particularly strong, as earlier reports described it as a Hail Mary tactic, meaning it gave everything it had but with little success. According to Gamesfray, Nintendo may not even receive the $30,000 if it ultimately turns out that the patents filed after Palworld’s release were not infringed.

No matter how we look at it, the paths leading to a Nintendo victory seem to have disappeared, and even if Pocketpair is forced to pay some form of compensation, it will not cover Nintendo’s legal costs and it will not shut Palworld down. If the case closes this way, it will likely go down in history as Nintendo’s biggest public defeat so far.

Source: WCCFTech, Gamesfray