Palworld Developer Pocketpair Says It Was Forced to Make 'Necessary' Changes to Game After Nintendo Lawsuit 73p1j Technology News

Nintendo and The Pokémon Company filed a lawsuit against Pocketpair in September 2024, alleging Palworld infringed upon three specific patents. 38683k

Written by Manas Mitul | Updated: 9 May 2025 14:56 IST

Palworld Developer Pocketpair Says It Was Forced to Make 'Necessary' Changes to Game After Nintendo Lawsuit

Photo Credit: Pocketpair 7a2a

Players can no longer use Pals to glide in the game and must utilise a glider

Highlights

A Palworld patch in November 2024 removed certain gameplay features
Pocketpair said it was disappointed to have to make the changes
Palworld crossed 32 million players on all platforms this year

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The Pokémon Company alleged infringed on their intellectual property. The changes were “necessary” to avoid further degradation of the gameplay experience and disruption to Palworld development and distribution, Pocketpair said.

Palworld Patched in Light of Lawsuit 14206w

A patch released on November 30, 2024, removed the ability to summon Pals, the Pokémon-style creatures in Palworld, by throwing Pal Spheres, changing the mechanic to a static summon next to the player, Pocketpair said in a blog post on its website. Last year, Nintendo had alleged in its lawsuit that this particulate mechanic represented one of three instances of patent infringement in the survival-action game. Patch v0.3.11 also included other changes in response to the lawsuit.

Additionally, Pocketpair said Palworld's newest patch would implement yet another gameplay “compromise”. With Patch v0.5.5, Pals can no longer be utilised for gliding, which can only be performed using a glider present in the player's inventory. Pals, however, will still be able to provide ive buffs to gliding, the company said.

Palworld Has Crossed 32 Million Players on Steam, PS5 and Xbox

“We understand that this will be disappointing for many, just as it is for us, but we hope our fans understand that these changes are necessary in order to prevent further disruptions to the development of Palworld,” Pocketpair said.

The company said it was “disappointed” that changes had to be made to Palworld, but said it would continue to dispute Nintendo's claims in the lawsuit.

“We also want to extend our apologies to our fans for the discomfort and concern this ongoing litigation has caused. We remain committed to developing Palworld and delivering exciting new content to our fans,” The Palworld developer added.

Why Nintendo and the Pokémon Company Are Suing 'Palworld' Maker Pocketpair

Palworld Patent Infringement Lawsuit 103s50

Nintendo and The Pokémon Company seeking an injunction on the survival game, that features monsters that bear alleged similarities to the creatures from the Pokémon franchise. Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are also seeking damages from Pocketpair to the tune of over JPY 5 million (roughly Rs. 27.7 lakh).

Palworld became a breakout hit on Xbox when it launched in January 2024. The game, however, attracted plagiarism accusations over its creature designs and certain mechanics that seemed to resemble games from the Pokémon franchise. The survival title features Pokémon-style animals, or Pals, that can be captured and tamed for combat, traversal and base building in the game's open world, thus attracting the moniker “Pokémon with Guns.”

Pocketpair Shares Details of Palworld Lawsuit by Nintendo, The Pokémon Company

Despite its ongoing legal troubles, Palworld remains incredibly popular. Earlier this year, Pocketpair PS5 and Xbox.

Palworld 5c4q4e

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Genre Action-Adventure

Platform Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC: Windows

Modes Single-player, Multiplayer

More Pocket Pair Games

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Further reading: Palworld Lawsuit

Manas Mitul

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In his time as a journalist, Manas Mitul has written on a wide spectrum of beats including politics, culture and sports. He enjoys reading, walking around in museums and rewatching films. Talk to Manas about football and tennis, but maybe don’t bring up his video game backlog. More