'Gotta Catch Em All' -- Lawsuit Edition: Palworld vs. Pokémon
Pocket Pair vs. Nintendo / The Pokémon Company
If you haven’t heard about the debate between Palworld developer Pocket Pair and Nintendo / The Pokémon Company, I hope your rock is doing well! Recently, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company filed a lawsuit against Pocket Pair, alleging patent infringements to their IP. This legal dispute centers around gameplay mechanics that both companies claim are proprietary to the Pokémon franchise. With Palworld drawing comparisons due to its creature-collecting mechanics, this lawsuit has sparked debate in the gaming community about the boundaries of intellectual property and innovation in this specific genre of game.
At first, we weren’t sure exactly what patents Nintendo was pointing at; however, thanks to Pocket Pair’s post on socials dropping some juice to an update on the dilemma, The Pokémon Company have specifically pointed to three key patents that they believe Palworld violates:
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JP7545191: A system for using capture items to catch characters.
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JP7493117: A targeting system for deploying capture items.
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JP7528390: A system for rideable characters.
These patents are seen as foundational to the gameplay in Pokémon games. In response, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are seeking at least ¥5 million ($33,683) in damages and an injunction to stop Palworld's distribution. Wow! Honestly, thought it was going to be more than that..
Despite the lawsuit, Pocket Pair stands firm, asserting that Palworld offers a unique experience, despite some similarities with Pokémon. This raises the question: how far can a game go in borrowing common features from a genre without crossing into patent infringement? Palworld blends creature-collecting with survival and open-world elements, and while the core concept of throwing balls at creatures to capture them is similar to Pokémon, it also includes distinct gameplay differences - like using the Nickit-knock-off as a flamethrower! Poggers!
This lawsuit raises crucial questions about the balance between creative freedom and the protection of intellectual property. While Palworld combines elements of creature-collecting with a more open-world, survival-focused gameplay style, it still includes mechanics like throwing balls at animals and capturing them – tsk tsk, how dare they! If Nintendo and The Pokémon Company succeed in this case, it could set a precedent for future games across all genres, determining just how much borrowing from established titles is acceptable before it becomes infringement.
Now, if you have made it this far in the article, I think it's safe for me to say that I have about 35-40 hours in Palworld so I think I am well within my grounds to say that Palworld is everything we Pokémon fans wanted. Honestly, I would go as far to say that when Pokémon Legends: Arceus came out, Palworld was what I was imagining Arceus to be from those early gameplay reveals! Yes, I played all the way through Arceus and the small bits of instanced gameplay like the town and fast traveling to the various zones broke that immersion for me, the game was fantastic, don't get me wrong but I thought that open-world they were spouting, was going to be a bit more.. open? Let me be honest and say I didn't play Scarlet or Violet, those bugs looked too nutty, so I can't speak to the feel of those games - if you played and liked them, let us know your thoughts on them below! IMO, Pocket Pair took everything Pokémon hasn't been doing for our 90's babies lifetimes and crushed it! I am a big fan of Palworld and what they brought to the table for us gamers, their success was absolutely deserved!
We will keep our eyes open to see how this lawsuit pans out! But we have to know:
Did you play Palworld? What similarities do you find between the two games and does it matter to you as a gamer? Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments!
