Nintendo and The Pokemon Company to sue Pocketpair Inc over Palworld

Owing to similarities between Pokemon and Palworld, Nintendo have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against developer Pocketpair Inc.  Palworld was released on Microsoft platforms (Windows/Xbox) in January and has enjoyed over 270,000 "Very Positive" reviews on Steam since release. The game reportedly sold over 5 million copies in the first 3 days of release and recorded a high of 1.5 million concurrent online players on Steam.

It was quickly noted that the game had many similar creatures to capture, though the use of firearms by the protagonists is one notable difference to the formula, along with farm-game concepts such as building communities, using Pals for crafting, generating power and sewing. You can even eat them (lets see Nintendo adopt that mechanic - Pikachu pie anyone?)

The case is based on patents rather than copyright, which suggests Nintendo owns specific mechanics or technologies that have been infringed rather than creature design, which would be difficult to win given that copyright applies to very specific design elements (you can't copyright a snake for example). It remains to be seen if this move is designed to bury Pocketpair Inc in legal fees or if there are genuine patent infringements that can be proven, but we'll see what transpires as the case progresses.

The lawsuit states:
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 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.