Well, it took about nine months to happen, but what was once expected finally transpired. When “Palworld” was released into open early access in January of 2024, it put the internet and gaming community into a Pokemon-esque frenzy. Why? Because of all the Pokémon type properties to ever emerge, “Palworld” was easily the most brazen in terms of copying elements of the beloved franchise. It quickly got to the point where the gaming community was anticipating Nintendo would file a lawsuit against the “Palworld” developers, Pocketpair. It took about nine months, but Nintendo’s lawyers finally descended.
On September 18th, 2024, Nintendo announced they, along with The Pokémon Company, would be seeking “an injunction against infringement and compensation for damages” claiming that “Palworld” was infringing on multiple patent rights. The statement didn’t go into full details about what patents were being infringed upon but it’s not uncommon for patented ideas to appear in video games.
For example, remember the game “Crazy Taxi?” Well Sega had patented certain elements of the game’s concept, in particular the combination of being a driving simulator with a dynamic directional arrow. This actually led to a lawsuit where Sega ended up suing Fox Interactive for “The Simpsons: Road Rage,” which directly took this mechanic.
While there are a multitude of games and franchises that have heavily borrowed from Pokémon, (Digimon, “Temtem,” “Jade Cocoon,” “Robopon,” “Dragon Quest Monters,” etc.) it’s safe to say that none of them have come as close to directly copying specific elements of Pokémon quite like “Palworld” has. That’s not to say the game from Pocketpair isn’t uniquely distinct from Pokémon, because it is. “Palworld” has game mechanics that involve crafting, delegating chores, equipping weapons, and other game play features that are vastly different than the experience one would have playing any Pokémon game. But then again you also weaken various monsters with attacks and then catch them by throwing a ball at them which can vary in success rate based on the type of monster and the damage you’ve done to them. Maybe “Palworld” was flying a little too close to the sun, or Poké Ball in this case.
It could be that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company literally have a patent on that very specific concept, just like Sega had a patent on a very specific driving with a directional arrow gameplay element. Or maybe some of the “Palworld” designs are way too close in nature to those in Pokémon. Sure, there’s only so many ways you can draw a bird, wolf, sheep, etc. but at the same time you can try a little bit harder to be more distinct, as the pictures throughout this article clearly show.
Really, the only surprise about this lawsuit is that it took this long to finally happen. Nintendo’s legal team is notoriously sue-happy when it comes to their intellectual property rights. They’ve done everything to file cease and desist orders against fan made “Metroid” game projects, sued owners of ROM hosting websites for millions of dollars, and even tried to stop the gaming rental industry in America back in the early ’90s. They don’t always win, but given the amount of money and resources they have at their disposal, they have one hell of a batting average.
As the lawsuit moves forward, we’ll have to see just what elements of “Palworld” Nintendo believes are patent infringing and what legal remedy they’re seeking. The bad news for Pocketpair is that if The Big N took nine months to file this lawsuit, then they probably have something substantive to back up their claims.
