It Finally Happened: Nintendo Files a Lawsuit Against the Creators of Palworld, the ‘Pokémon With Guns’

Palworld has been a massive success, but its similarities with Pokémon have sparked controversy since its first launch. Known for defending its intellectual property to the hilt, Nintendo was monitoring the situation closely. The Pokémon Company also said it would investigate the matter and take appropriate action if necessary. The day has finally come.

Nintendo vs Pocketpair. On Wednesday, Nintendo, together with The Pokémon Company, filed a lawsuit against Pocketpair, the developers of Palworld, for allegedly infringing on its intellectual property.

According to Nintendo’s statement:

“This lawsuit seeks an injunction against infringement and compensation for damages on the grounds that Palworld, a game developed and released by the Defendant, infringes multiple patent rights.

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.”

Pocketpair has not yet responded.

Too much alike. It’s no secret that Palworld bears a reasonable resemblance to Pokémon in some ways. The creatures in the game, called Pals, are similar to some Pokémon. While they’re not exact copies, they bear enough similarity to raise suspicion and draw attention. Additionally, some designs in Palworld are nearly identical to certain Pokémon, with only a few variations. Such similarities often lead to legal action from Nintendo, which is known for protecting its intellectual property rights.

Everyone saw it coming. After Palworld was released in January, The Pokémon Company quickly issued a statement. The statement mentioned that the company had “received many inquiries regarding another company’s game released in January 2024.” It clarified that it had “not granted any permission for the use of Pokémon intellectual property or assets in the game.” The company also said it intended to “investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to Pokémon.”

The ball is in Pocketpair’s court. At the moment, Pocketpair hasn’t commented on the matter, and we don’t know what action it’ll take. What we do know is that Palworld has been a huge success. It’s one of the best-selling games on Steam, and just a few months ago, it became more than just a game. Pocketpair teamed up with Sony Music Entertainment and Aniplex to launch Palworld Entertainment, a company dedicated to promoting Palword’s licensing business, both domestically and internationally.

According to Sony:

“The JV will be responsible for developing the reach of the intellectual property and for expanding commercial business endeavors, including the global licensing and merchandising activities associated with Palworld, outside of the interactive game.”

A few months ago, after Summer Game Fest, John “Bucky” Buckley, a global community manager at Pocketpair, shared a post on his X account recounting his experience at the event. He also said: “There is one key takeaway from the SGF weekend that honestly surprised me. Palworld is STILL the boogeyman for some people. Obviously, we’re more than aware of all the Palworld discourse that floated around at launch: Palworld was made with AI (False). Palworld stole assets (False). Palworld is being sued (False).”

We’ll have to wait and see. It looks like this is going to go on for a long time.

Image | Pocketpair | Nintendo

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