This just in, Nintendo and Gamefreak, the company behind Pokémon are effectively taking legal action against Pocketpair, the developers of Palword. Both companies filed this lawsuit today, September 18, seeking an injunction against infringement and compensation for damages because Palworld, a game developed and released by the Defendant, infringes multiple patent rights.
For months, there has been speculation that Nintendo would take legal action over the indie survival game that has been known as Pokémon with guns. Last January, Nintendo vowed that they intend to investigate and take appropriate measures against anything that may be considered infringing content.
Around June, Pocketpair claimed that Nintendo had yet to take action in response to the Pokémon-rip off claims but now, Nintendo has fulfilled their promise to take legal action. According to Nintendo, they stated in the link above:
“Nintendo Co., Ltd. (HQ: Kyoto, Minami-ku, Japan; Representative Director and President: Shuntaro Furukawa, “Nintendo” hereafter), together with The Pokémon Company, filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court against Pocketpair, Inc. (HQ: 2-10-2 Higashigotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, “Defendant” hereafter) on September 18, 2024.
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.“
Palword first launched in January 2024 for the PC and had tremendous success but also had a series of unexpected controversies. Pokémon fans have pointed out that there were many similarities Palword had with Pokémon. But the developers have claimed that this game is more akin to survival crafting like Rust and No Man’s Sky. However, due to the backlash, the development team has been receiving various threats including death threats.