Nintendo announced on the 18th that it has filed a lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court against the development company Pocket Pair (located in Shinagawa, Tokyo) for infringing on multiple patent rights, seeking an injunction against the infringing activities and damages.
Palworld was released in January, and is a game where players capture monsters called “Pal,” battle them, and create bases. Within a month of its release, the total number of players exceeded 25 million, making it one of the fastest-selling titles in gaming history.
As of now, Pocket Pair has stated that it has not received the lawsuit documents and has not confirmed the details of Nintendo’s claims or the patent rights it alleges were infringed. They indicated that there are no plans to suspend or change the operation and provision of Palworld. They will take necessary actions as soon as they receive the lawsuit documents.
Regarding this matter, Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Toyo Securities, stated, “By suing for patent infringement rather than copyright, it suggests that Nintendo has given up on arguing that the characters in Palworld resemble Pokémon.”
Furthermore, he added, “Nintendo owns numerous fundamental patents regarding game development methods and systems, so this case serves as a reminder that there are many ways to stop games that are unfavorable to them, like this one.”
In July, Pocket Pair had reached an agreement to establish a joint venture with Sony Music Entertainment and others to promote the licensing business of Palworld both domestically and internationally. A representative from Sony Music Entertainment stated they are not in a position to respond regarding Nintendo’s lawsuit.
(Additional comments from Pocket Pair will be added)