Palworld developer Pocketpair said Thursday it must make changes to its survival game in light of a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Nintendo last year. The Japanese studio confirmed significant changes to Palworld’s gameplay features and mechanics, changes that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company claim infringe on their intellectual property rights. Pocketpair said the changes were “necessary” in order to avoid further deterioration of the gaming experience and disruption to Palworld’s development and distribution.
Palworld patches in response to lawsuit
Pocketpair said in a blog post on its website that the patch released on November 30, 2024 removed the ability to summon Pals, the Pokémon-style creatures in Palworld, by throwing Pal Spheres, changing the mechanism to a static summon next to the player. Last year, Nintendo claimed in a lawsuit that this particle mechanism was one of three cases of patent infringement in the survival action game. The v0.3.11 patch also includes other changes for litigation.
Additionally, Pocketpair says Palworld’s latest patch will implement another gameplay “compromise.” As of patch v0.5.5, companions can no longer be used to glide and can only be performed using a glider in the player’s inventory. However, the company says Pals are still capable of providing passive buffs to gliding.
Pocketpair said: “We know this will be disappointing to many people, just like us, but we hope our fans understand that these changes are necessary to prevent further disruption to Palworld’s development.”
The company said it was “disappointed” by the changes Palworld had to make, but said it would continue to dispute Nintendo’s claims in the lawsuit.
“We would also like to apologize for the discomfort and concern this ongoing litigation has caused our fans. We remain committed to developing Palworld and providing our fans with exciting new content,” the Palworld developers added.
Palworld patent infringement lawsuit
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company filed a lawsuit against Pocketpair in September 2024, alleging that Palworld infringed on three specific patents. The companies are seeking an injunction against the survival game, whose monsters allegedly bear similarities to creatures from the Pokémon series. Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are also seeking compensation of more than 5 million yen (approximately Rs. 2.77 crore) from Pocketpair.
After its launch in January 2024, “Palworld” became a huge hit on Steam and Xbox. However, the game has been accused of plagiarism due to its creature design and certain mechanics that appear to be similar to the Pokémon games. The survival game features Pokémon-style animals (or companions) that can be captured and tamed for combat, traversal, and base-building in the game’s open world, earning it the nickname “Pokémon with a Gun.”
Despite ongoing legal issues, Palworld remains extremely popular. Earlier this year, Pocketpair confirmed that the game has surpassed 32 million players on Steam, PS5, and Xbox.
