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Pokemon vs Palworld – Why it Matters
A month after the hit game “Palworld” released, the Pokemon Company stated that they would investigate the game for potential copyright infringement. Months later, in early November 2024, Nintendo and the Pokemon Company announced they would be suing Palworld over patents. It’s worth mentioning, however, that these patents were officially filed months after Palworld’s release as amendments under a patent created in 2021.
The patents in question have to do with capturing a creature which then belongs to the player, switching between rideable mounts, and throwing an object to induce a combat state. The issue with these patents, though, is that they cover basic game mechanics. This lawsuit is only happening in Japan, meaning that American and Chinese players will be unaffected.
Why is Nintendo suing Palworld? The patents that sparked debate
One of the central mechanics of Palworld revolves around using Pal spheres to capture and obtain Pals to aid the player in battle, very similarly to how players toss Pokeballs at Pokemon to help them later. Nintendo claims that Palworld’s system violates the patent because the player uses commands, keyboard or controller, to aim the Pal sphere, which upon contact with a wild Pal, calculates the probability of capture.
Riding Pals is also essential to the game, as when players reach a certain level, they can craft saddles for certain Pals which will give the player access to previously inaccessible areas as well as increasing travel speed. Nintendo stated that Palworld uses a similar system for its mounts.
The third patent ties in with the first, as when a Pal breaks out of a Pal sphere, it will trigger aggression on the player and begin to attack. Nintendo states that Palworld violates this patent because the game itself revolves around a combat system where players toss creatures at each other.
It’s also worth considering that many people were calling Palworld “Pokemon with guns” and saying how various Pals were just slightly altered Pokemon, so it’s possible that The Pokemon Company couldn’t gather enough/any evidence to pursue a copyright case.
Does Palworld actually violate Nintendo’s copyright?
At a surface glance, Pals may look a lot like certain Pokemon, but looking at the origins of some of them, they may not be as similar as some would think. The best example for this case is the comparison between the Pal Fenglope and the Pokemon Cobalion.
Both are blue horse-like creatures with yellow horns. However, Fenglope is a blue horse creature because it’s likely based on the Fuzhu, which is a mythical Chinese deer with four horns that appears during floods. Fenglope’s Palpedia entry states that its horns were collected for art, and gold, being valuable, supports this statement.
The Pokemon Cobalion is likely based on Athos of the three musketeers and some sort of deer. As for its blue coloration, the only hint is that its name probably comes from “cobalt”, which is a shade of blue.
Therefore, even though Fenglope and Cobalion look similar, they are not the same creature. Sparkit and Pikachu, Vixy and Eevee, as well as Grizzbolt and Electabuzz, are other examples of Pals and Pokemon that look similar but have different origins.
How does this lawsuit impact the gaming industry?
If Pokemon wins, there would be little impact outside of Japan. Inside Japan, however, this would make it a lot harder for anyone to release a creature collection game without violating these patents.
Whereas at first it would be easy to get around thrown objects, how long would it be before another gaming company claims patent rights for new game mechanics? There are only so many innovations that can be made before game developers find themselves incapable of making games in this category.
This would also have implications outside of the creature collection genre as companies would start claiming patent rights on other game mechanics until there aren’t enough left for game developers to utilize to make games.
A lot of people say that Palworld deserves to go under for copying Pokemon, however, it needs to be considered that two of these patents, the rideable mounts and thrown items triggering aggression, could be applicable to the very popular sandbox game Minecraft.
For Palworld, its parent company, Pocketpair, will have to pay the equivalent of 60,000$ USD in damages, and there will be an injunction on Palworld in Japan, meaning the game can’t be sold.
In conclusion, Pokemon winning would have a domino effect on the gaming industry that could potentially shut down new game development until the patents expire. Nintendo is currently under fire from other gamers for suing Palworld, especially because the patents are essentially game mechanics and these patents were filed after Palworld had officially released in early access.
Do you think Nintendo is going overboard protecting Pokemon?
FAQs:
Will Palworld be removed from Steam and Xbox?
If Nintendo wins the lawsuit, an injunction will be put in place, meaning Palworld can no longer be distributed in the country.
Why isn’t Palworld being sued for copyright infringement?
It’s likely Nintendo couldn’t find any evidence for a copyright case because even if some of the Pals look similar, their origins or designs are different enough for them to be unique.
Will this have impacts outside of Japan?
Most likely not. Nintendo tried to sue Palworld in the US, but were told their patents infringed on something unpatentable or weren’t described well enough.
If these patents were released after Palworld, how can they be sued?
Japanese law allows for new patents to be considered older if they’re amended to an older patent. The patent in question came out for Pokemon: Legends Arceus, which was released in 2021.
Sources to learn more:
https://palworld.fandom.com/wiki/Fenglope
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Cobalion_(Pok%C3%A9mon)