Nintendo has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair, the studio responsible for Palworld. Palworld, of course, is heavily reminiscent of the Pokémon series, and has attracted a fair bit of criticism—and passionate defence—for how closely some of its creatures resemble those found in Nintendo's brand. "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 writes in its announcement .
"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." The debate over whether Palworld is a blatant Pokémon rip-off or a charming parody started as soon as the game launched in January, when it managed to sell over four million copies within a week. New games hoping to capitalise on the success of wildly popular older games is nothing new, but for some, Palworld seemed too indebted to Pokemon for comfort.
Some commentators compared Pokémon 3D model meshes with Palworld's, prompting Pocketpair dev lead Takuro Mizobe to assure the public that the studio "has no intention of infringing upon the intellectual property of other companies." (He also called the accusations "slanderous".) Before the month was out it was clear the lion had been prodded.
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