Pocketpair, the studio behind the popular game Palworld, has issued a statement in response to a lawsuit filed by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company (TPC), asserting that it has not been informed about which specific patents it allegedly infringed.
In its statement, Pocketpair said, “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 lawsuit claims that Pocketpair has infringed upon multiple undisclosed patents, likely related to the similarities between Palworld’s companion creatures, known as “pals,” and Pokémon characters.
Palworld, an open-world survival crafting game, has been a commercial success, selling over 10 million copies since its release in January and breaking concurrent player records on Steam.
While critics and fans have noted the resemblance between Palworld’s monster designs and Pokémon species, the lawsuit focuses on patent infringement rather than visual similarities. Nintendo, known for its rigorous protection of intellectual property, has previously issued takedown orders through TPC for content featuring mods that replaced pals with Pokémon in Palworld.
As the legal situation develops, Pocketpair asserts that it will continue to cooperate while awaiting further details regarding the patents in question.
