Update, Sept. 19<\/strong>: Pocketpair has now responded<\/a> to Nintendo’s lawsuit.<\/p>
Pocketpair’s in deep water after Nintendo and The Pok\u00e9mon<\/a> Company finally took legal action against the Palworld<\/a><\/em> developer by filing a patent infringement lawsuit on Sept. 18. \u201cThis lawsuit seeks an injunction against infringement and compensation for damages on the grounds that Palworld<\/em>, a game developed and released by the Defendant, infringes multiple patent rights,\u201d Nintendo announced<\/a> in a short statement shared on Sept. 18.<\/p>
![\"Verdash's](\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Verdash-Paldeck.jpg?w=640\")
This comes eight months after Palworld<\/em> released. Despite the game\u2019s massive success<\/a>, many gamers could not overlook the strong resemblance between certain Pals and Pok\u00e9mon<\/a>, calling it out right from the start<\/a>. For example, one of the biggest offenders in Palworld<\/em> is Verdash, who looks like a fusion of two Pok\u00e9mon<\/a>: Gen VIII Fire Starter Cinderace and the Grass Eeveelution, Leafeon. <\/p>
Interestingly, Eevee and its evolutions seemed to be a recurring theme among other Palworld<\/em> Pal designs like Cremis, who looks like a lighter and fluffier Eevee, and Foxcicle, who fans accuse of being a “lazy” fusion<\/a> of Glaceon and Ninetales. And yes, there are plenty of other Pals that could pass as Pok\u00e9mon or combinations, and it got to the point where players said they couldn’t defend the designs. Not to mention, Pocketpair’s CEO Takuro Mizobe was also recently put on blast for making comments about AI<\/a> and alluding to how it can be used to avoid copyright issues.<\/p>
![\"Foxcicle](\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Palworld-Foxcicle.jpg?w=640\")
On the flip side, Palworld<\/em> very quickly grew a dedicated fanbase that continues to show its support despite the copycat accusations. “This makes me want to go back and play Palworld<\/em>,” one fan commented<\/a> in response to the lawsuit news. Other gamers took the opportunity to criticize Nintendo and Game Freak, saying<\/a>: “Nintendo should put those resources in [Game Freak] instead to make better Pok\u00e9mon<\/em> games because they haven’t made a good game in 10 years.” Palworld<\/em> enjoyers might’ve been able to overlook the similarities to Pok\u00e9mon<\/em> and just enjoy the game up until this point, but now it’s pretty hard to ignore with all eyes on this new legal battle.<\/p>
The Pok\u00e9mon Company previously announced in January it would be investigating Palworld<\/em><\/a> for possible infringement, and now it\u2019s finally come to a lawsuit. It\u2019s unclear how this will affect Pocketpair and Palworld<\/em><\/a> moving forward, but a giant company like Nintendo isn’t someone you’d want to go to war with in court. The latter sounds committed to cracking down on other Pok\u00e9mon<\/em> lookalikes beyond Palworld<\/em> if necessary.<\/p>
