Nintendo is Suing Palworld, but it might not be for what you expect

Nintendo is Suing Palworld, but it might not be for what you expect.

Palworld is one of the biggest games of 2024, with over 2.1 million concurrent players on Steam alone. This surge also impacted us at Kinetic Hosting, with demand so high that we could barely keep up with orders.

It’s clear that Palworld and Pokémon share some undeniable similarities, but it doesn’t seem like Pocketpair (Palworld’s developer) was trying to hide that. For years, people had been asking for an open-world crafting game with Pokémon-like creatures, and that’s exactly what Pocketpair delivered. Combine that with the recent disappointment in some Pokémon games, and you can see why Palworld took off.

Because of the similarities to Pokémon, many wondered if Nintendo or The Pokémon Company would try to sue Pocketpair. Some creatures in Palworld do look remarkably similar to Pokémon, but the game isn’t just a clone—it’s fun in its own right. After a few months passed without any legal action, many assumed Palworld was safe. But coming from the Minecraft space, I remembered how The Pokémon Company shut down the popular Pixelmon mod in 2017, long after it became popular. So when I heard about the lawsuit, I wasn’t surprised, but the reason behind it did catch me off guard.

The lawsuite

Given the similarities between Pokémon and Palworld, I thought Nintendo would target character designs, but the lawsuit is actually over patent infringement. In Palworld, you catch creatures using a ball-shaped trap called a Pal Sphere, much like Pokémon's Pokéball. It turns out Nintendo owns a patent for this kind of mechanic.

Whether you think that’s fair or not, this is a key point in the lawsuit. You might be wondering how Nintendo holds a patent on something that seems so basic, but this kind of patenting is common across many industries, not just gaming. For example, did you ever wonder why no games had mini-games in loading screens for so long? That’s because Namco held a patent on it until it expired in 2015. The gaming industry is full of patents like this, so it's something to watch out for if you’re getting into game development.

How Will This Impact Palworld

It’s unlikely that anyone will take away your copy of Palworld, but if Pocketpair loses, they might have to stop developing the game, which means no more updates. In the worst case, Pocketpair could even be forced to shut down entirely.

Regardless of the outcome, we hope there's a way for Pocketpair to keep working on Palworld.

What Are People Saying?

Unsurprisingly, there isn't much support for Nintendo here. People love Palworld and how Pocketpair has handled the game. This lawsuit is also one in a long line of unpopular moves by Nintendo, and many see it as bullying a smaller developer.

Personally, I think that whether Nintendo wins or loses, it’ll hurt their reputation further. But as long as we keep buying the next Mario or Zelda game, I don’t think they’re too concerned about what we think. With leaks of the Switch 2 making waves online, the outrage over this Palworld lawsuit might fade into the background.

What do you think? Is Nintendo in the right here?