Nintendo has filed a lawsuit for patent infringement against the developer of Palworld, a game called "Pokémon with guns"

The survival shooter Palworld, also called "Pokémon with guns," was one of the most popular games in the winter of 2024. And yes, the creatures in the game remind everyone of the famous Pokémon, so even on NexusMods, you cannot publish Pokémon-related mods for Palworld. Everyone was waiting for Nintendo to sue the developers, and it happened.

Here's What We Know

Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have filed a lawsuit for patent infringement against Pocketpair, the developer of Palworld.

The lawsuit, filed in the Tokyo District Court, claims damages on the grounds that Palworld infringes numerous patent rights.

"Nintendo will continue to take the necessary measures against any infringement of its intellectual property rights, including the Nintendo brand itself, to protect the intellectual property it has worked hard to create over the years," the company said in a statement.

However, VGC notes that Nintendo has filed a patent lawsuit rather than a copyright infringement claim, so it can be assumed that the complaint by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company is likely to focus on the gameplay rather than the similarity between the character designs.

Also, David Hansel, an intellectual property and digital media lawyer at Hansel Henson, told VGC earlier this year that "irrefutable evidence" is needed to successfully pursue a copyright infringement case against Nintendo, as everyone borrows and is inspired by each other. He added that one cannot have a monopoly on a certain style of artwork. It is literally copied.

Now we are waiting for the results to find out how it will end.

Source: videogameschronicle