Japanese studio Pocketpair, which released the sensational survival simulator Palworld, commented on the lawsuit filed against it in the Tokyo District Court by Nintendo and The Pokemon Company (TPC).
Image source: PC Gamer
Recall that as a result of a “thorough review of the content,” Nintendo and TPC decided that Palworld infringes several patent rights at once, and are seeking an injunction against such materials along with damages.
Pocketpair said that at the moment it is not notified about which patents Palworld has violated, but will begin the necessary legal proceedings and investigations in this direction.
«It’s unfortunate, but because of this lawsuit, we will have to dedicate a lot of resources to issues unrelated to game development. We will do everything possible for our fans and to ensure that indie developers are not prevented from realizing creative ideas,” reads a statement from Pocketpair.
The developers assured that Palworld passed the necessary legal checks before release (image source: GamesRadar)
Palworld early access started on January 19 on PC (Steam, Microsoft Store), Xbox One, Xbox Series X, S and Game Pass. By the end of February, the project’s audience exceeded 25 million people, and sales on Steam exceeded 15 million copies.
«Palworld was an unexpected success for gamers and us. We’ve been amazed by the incredible response to the game and are working hard to make it even better. We will continue to improve Palworld and strive to create a game that our fans will be proud of,” assured Pocketpair.
Pocketpair recently announced that it would not be moving Palworld to a freemium distribution model. According to rumors, the PS5 version of the game is being prepared for presentation – the announcement is expected at the Tokyo Game Show 2024 from September 26 to 29.