Over the last two years, Nintendo and Palworld developer Pocketpair have been engaged in a legal battle over similarities between Pokémon, one of the largest franchises in entertainment history, and Palworld, the hit 2024 monster catching game. As the court case has dragged on, Nintendo has attempted different angles to surmount Pocketpair (such as attempting to acquire patents for game mechanics), but nothing has stuck. In a new report from Games Fray, IP expert Florian Mueller has stated he believes Nintendo has a “zero chance of prevailing” over the current version of Palworld, which is substantially different from what Nintendo is suing over.
You’d be forgiven for not knowing all the developments this case has taken, but late last year, Nintendo amended its lawsuit to specifically target older versions of Palworld. The theory, according to Mueller, is that Nintendo knows it cannot win its case against the latest version of Palworld, which has been amended to either outright remove or heavily modify mechanics that were similar to Pokémon. As far back as November 2024, Pocketpair had implemented changes that removed the ability to summon creatures by throwing a “Pal Sphere,” which is similar to tossing Poké Balls.
At the time of those changes, Pocketpair wrote, “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.” While that’s good for Pocketpair’s case, it has made it seem more likely that Nintendo will wind up losing this court battle.
As Mueller writes, “Based on the narrowed scope of the case, we cannot see any pathway to victory over any current or very recent Palworld version (nor Palworld 1.0, which should launch soon) for Nintendo. There will be no injunction with real-world impact.” In a further stroke of luck for Pocketpair, even if Nintendo does win some points in its lawsuit, it’s only likely to receive around $30,000 in damage rather than the multiple millions it is seeking. “That is chump change for either party, and just a rounding error compared to Nintendo’s litigation expenses,” Mueller says.
While Mueller suggests it’s entirely possible for Nintendo to bring up a new lawsuit in another country and attempt to relitigate everything, the chances are very low that it will amount to much. Nintendo has failed to acquire patents for game mechanics just this past year, and the window of opportunity for which Palworld was more directly infringing on Pokémon is so small that it likely cannot prove any significant damages were done. For all intents and purposes, Nintendo has basically lost this case.
Related
Palworld is set to receive its own trading card game this summer
Palworld spinoff ‘Palfarm’ looks to beat Pokopia at its own game
Palworld’s dev, Pocketpair, makes statement and changes to the game following lawsuit with Nintendo
Leave a Comment
Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
