Hours after Nintendo announced plans to file an infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair and its game Palworld, the developer, which has found itself on the wrong end of a legal proceeding, has responded to the news.
"We have received notice of this lawsuit and will begin the appropriate legal proceedings and investigations into the claims of patent infringement," Pocketpair says in a statement. "At this moment, we are unaware of the specific patents we are accused of infringing upon, and we have not been notified of such details."
The Pokémon Company released a statement less than a week after Palworld took off into early access, saying it intended to "investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon." But until now, it had broadly been assumed they hadn't found anything.
- Japanese patent attorney, burdened with a party pooper's knowledge, says Nintendo having 22 out of 23 Palworld-targeting claims 'rejected' in the US is business as usual
- Palworld studio's first move as a publisher is to save a struggling indie dev: 'This is the energy I want to see driving games in 2025'
It seems like Pocketpair had no indication, other than the initial statement, that Nintendo or The Pokémon Company was gearing up to sue. A few months ago, Palworld's creator Takuro Mizobe told GameFile that the studio has heard "nothing at all … Nintendo and The Pokémon Company didn't say anything to us." And now Pocketpair is left to catch up as quickly as possible.
"It is truly unfortunate that we will be forced to allocate significant time to matters unrelated to game development due to this lawsuit," Pocketpair says. "However, we will do our utmost for our fans and to ensure that indie game developers are not hindered or discouraged from pursuing their creative ideas. We apologize to our fans and supporters for any worry or discomfort that this news has caused."
Nintendo is no stranger to taking on small companies or really anyone who can't square up to this megacorporation. Previously, Nintendo fined Gary Bowser millions of dollars (plus served jail time) for his role in pirating Nintendo Switch and 3DS games, a fine he'll never be able to work off. While Garry's Mod was forced to take down 20 years' worth of Nintendo-related items after a takedown request.
Despite the upcoming legal battle, Pocketpair does try to reassure fans that it'll be business as usual: "Palworld was a surprise success this year, both for gamers and for us. We were blown away by the amazing response to the game and have been working hard to make it even better for our fans. We will continue improving Palworld and strive to create a game that our fans can be proud of."
