Palworld Struck by Nintendo Lawsuit Days Prior to Predicted PS5 Reveal 1
Image: Push Square

Sony will be keeping a close eye on the courtroom over the coming weeks, as Palworld has been struck by a Nintendo lawsuit overnight. Many had expected the Mario maker to come after the surprise survival game success earlier in the year, after its creature designs appeared to lift directly from the Pokémon franchise. However, it seemed like Tokyo-based developer Pocketpair had eschewed legal action – until last night.

Nintendo released a statement declaring that it had filed a patent infringement lawsuit on 18th September, seeking compensation for damages. It didn’t explicitly state which patent rights it believes Palworld infringes; it’s also interesting that it’s followed this legal path as opposed to one involving copyright, although it’s clearly spent the best part of a year building its case and has clearly determined this is the strongest path to victory.

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In a statement, Pocketpair said it’s “unaware of the specific patents we’re accused of infringing upon, and we’ve not been notified of such details”. It continued: “Pocketpair is a small indie game company based in Tokyo. Our goal as a company has always been to create fun games. We will continue to pursue this goal because we know that our games bring joy to millions of gamers around the world.”

It also argued that fighting this court case will have implications for the game: “It’s truly unfortunate that we will be forced to allocate significant time to matters unrelated to game development due to this lawsuit. However, we’ll do our utmost for our fans, and to ensure that indie game developers are not hindered or discouraged from pursuing their creative ideas. We apologise to our fans and supporters for any worry or discomfort that this news has caused.”

All of this will have implications for PlayStation, as it was widely expected a PS5 version of the game would be announced at Tokyo Game Show next week. Gematsu spotted that the game was due to be on display for Sony’s system at the Japanese convention in the coming days; whether this lawsuit will alter those plans remains to be seen. It’s highly likely Pocketpair was planning to make an announcement during next week’s rumoured State of Play.

It’s also worth noting that Sony Music subsidiary Aniplex has been investing heavily into Palworld. The company announced earlier in the summer that it had formed Palworld Entertainment, a new division similar in concept to The Pokémon Company, designed to explore “commercial business endeavours” beyond the game, presumably including animes, comics, and licensed toys.

With all of this taken into account, Sony has a vested interest in quashing this lawsuit from Nintendo, which threatens to derail its plans. While we’re not legal experts, we’d expect proceedings to be settled outside of court – although things could get spicy if this drags on, especially when you consider Nintendo must be confident it’s going to win this case given the length of time it’s taken to file it.

[source nintendo.co.jp, via x.com]