So, yeah, it’s been a weird year in gaming, and it keeps getting weirder. One of the things that many gamers expected to happen earlier in the year was The Pokemon Company going after developer Pocketpair for its title called Palworld, which is a very obvious Pokemon ripoff in various ways. However, the company chose not to sue until much later in the year, and many have been waiting to see how that would play out. Sure enough, Pocketpair has dropped some new information about the suit itself.
Specifically, they revealed how they are being sued for three different patents that The Pokemon Company filed AFTER the game was released on Xbox Game Pass and Steam Early Access.
Pocketpair (Palworld) details patent infringement lawsuit from The Pokemon Company/Nintendo https://t.co/iZVfdBItea
-Details 3 patents infringed
-Seeks injunction against Palworld
-Payment of 5 million yen plus late payment damages to Pokemon Company & Nintendo… pic.twitter.com/q1CKsknyW2— Wario64 (@Wario64) November 8, 2024
So, yeah, this is a thing, and it’s hilarious to see it go down for things like this. As we noted in a previous episode of the Nintendo Entertainment Podcast, two of the main patents have to do with gameplay features that the Pokemon franchise made popular and are indeed in Palworld. Whether this amounts to anything more than a slap on the wrist remains to be seen.
