There's been some discussion on social media over the past few days about whether Palworld has infringed on any intellectual property rights, and now The Pokémon Company has announced plans to launch an investigation.
In a statement published this morning, The Pokémon Company didn't specifically mention Palworld by name, but clearly was addressing the new Xbox Game Pass release. Here's what it had to say in full:
"We have received many inquiries regarding another company’s game released in January 2024. We have not granted any permission for the use of Pokémon intellectual property or assets in that game. We intend to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon. We will continue to cherish and nurture each and every Pokémon and its world, and work to bring the world together through Pokémon in the future."
A little while ago, the CEO of Palworld developer Pocketpair (Takuro Mizobe) told Automaton that the game had cleared all legal reviews, and the team had "no intention of infringing upon the intellectual property of other companies".
It'll be interesting to see what happens from here and whether anything serious comes out of The Pokémon Company's investigation, and obviously we'll be keeping a very close eye on it over the coming weeks and/or months.