
In case you somehow missed it, Nintendo ended up filing a patent infringement lawsuit against the Xbox Game Pass hit Palworld last September.
While Pocketpair released an official statement in response to this at the time, the team's communications director and publishing manager John Buckley revealed during a panel at the Game Developer's Conference recently how the whole thing was a huge shock:
"This obviously came as a shock to us. I think it came as a shock to a lot of people because it's alleged patent infringement, which is something that no one even considered, and it's something that we're still hashing out basically."
Pocketpair apparently did "legal checks" before the game and got the all-clear in Japan, which only added to the surprise:
"And we went back to the lawyers, and the lawyers contacted the courts, and they said, 'what's going on,' and that's when we discovered it was patents that they were going for."
Buckley claims it changed the entire mood of the team and it also led to Pocketpair scaling back its appearance at the Tokyo Game Show and even hiring security guards.
Although it has been difficult internally for Palworld's development team since the lawsuit was filed, the game itself continues to be a huge success. The studio also founded 'Pocketpair Publishing' earlier this year to help fund games by other developers.
Have you tried out Palworld on Xbox yet? Let us know in the comments.
[source gamesradar.com]
Comments 24
Nintendo - scumbags when it comes to things like this. They should be nurturing growth and encouraging this - not sitting there like some goofy gatekeeper throwing a tantrum.
I would be shocked too. Did you think that George Romero should’ve sued The Walking Dead over zombies?
@BigRedPaper Bloody disgusting isn't it, for a massive corp to behave like that.
I'm rooting for palworld and anyone else that is a victim of nintendo's legal bullying campaign.
@Kaloudz nintendo needs to get sued
@BigRedPaper @BacklogBrad They need a huge reality check is what they need. People get too caught up on the whole Xbox Vs Sony that Nintendo often gets overlooked for their own faults.
@Kaloudz The worst part is that Nintendo is getting huffy over what is basically throwing a net. Maybe we should unfreeze some cavemen to sue Nintendo
Are they a bit dumdum?
@Elbow 🤣🤣🤣
Wow. Is that the patent infringement they're on about? I thought it was just based on how some of the Pal creatures looked?
@Kaloudz same goes with that. Shouldn’t Nintendo have to sell their Pokémon stock? When looking at Nintendo‘s history, you see a monopolization of the handheld market. Do you think companies should have to sell off the publishing rights to their most successful franchise before they expand into a new market?
@Kaloudz To the best of my knowledge, they're suing based on throwing a ball to capture a creature with that being a patent. So essentially a net, yes.
@Elbow That's absolutely pathetic. Surely they weren't the first to come up with that idea, and if so, how the heck did they get that patent granted in the first place across the world? That's baffling.
@BigRedPaper I think when others start breaking into that market, and Ninty start feeling it, competition is going to get stiff. Unfortunately they have a firm grip so they can chokehold folks - but I question why sue over this but allow Oceanhorn - a blatant rip off of Zelda.
I think its scummy but in the world of law they have a right to do it no matter if the patent came after palworld's release.
Yeah I’m not surprised I bet he’s like a puppy. For many people they’re just oblivious to common sense, like they can develop an entire video game but cannot comprehend an obvious outcome. It’s crazy.
Has he ever explained why he couldn’t realise it before hand?
@Kaloudz you do realise countless Pokemon clones exist and Nintendo leave them alone. If you cannot understand or comprehend then just leave it to the adults.
@Mincey0 I'm not sure what countless clones has to do with this one game? This one game makes waves, gains a good following, finds success, and low and behold, Nintendo rear their head...
It's got nothing to do with being an adult and everything to do with calling out crappy practice.
@Kaloudz like I don’t know if you’re Chinese and just love a free ride or somthing but the majority of the world consider copying;
plagiarism or homage.
In this instance palword is not considered homage by Nintendo and they want it to follow suite, alternatively pokemon clones exist which are considered homage and they continue on with their success. Just because you have not heard of them doesn’t mean they don’t exist, heck Digimons still going.
Like I said it’s an adult discussion for the real world not some Disney fantasy where everyone plays nice and gets along. In the real world we’re on the brink of a world war for example, people don’t just accept copying or things they dislike. Just like you upset that Nintendo has an opinion and stance int heir own Ip and want to tell them what to do and feel about its just looking a a mirror for a change.
For one example Temtem made wave and I’m sure Nintendo let it be.
@Mincey0 I'm not quite sure how we went from Palworld and Nintendo to world war 3, but okay. I'll sidestep that, because I'm not sure how any of that is even relevant.
What I'm saying is not fantasy, and, for your information, I'm nearly 40 years old lol. From what I understand (gleaned from my discussions here) Nintendo are suing based on the "throw to capture a monster" gimmick.
I personally think that that's the scummiest thing I've heard in a long while, and I'm well within my rights to shame Nintendo for their shady practices here. As if Palworld will ever de-shelf Pokemon as the king of its genre...
Palworld came out, the developers got a huge wave of love and support, and then months later, Nintendo thought "nah". It's ridiculous on their part and please let's not pretend like Nintendo don't go after anyone else. They have a rep for it mate.
@Kaloudz that’s maybe an issue with context then. I said the world is not a Disney fantasy. Disagreement can go too far. either way like I said it comes down to homage or plagiarism. I’m not saying I want pocket-pair to be sued I’m just saying its kind of obvious this kind of Pokémon clone would be sued.
@Mincey0 I didn't mean to be rude if it came across blunt bud. I personally find it daft that they were granted the capture patent in the first place - and I would be very curious as to how they managed to get that globally (unless they only got it in China). It just seems like such a hard thing to patent in a world where thousands of games release yearly.
@Kaloudz The patent by all accounts seems to be related to the release sytem of how a pokemon is summoned rather than the fact its a sphere thats used.
Pokemon are summoned by throwing a ball at a patch of ground and the creature appears at that location.
Palworld seemingly used the exact same system (it was suggested it was copied code) and have recently changed it to the ball being held out and the Pal just summons to the side of the character.
As for the patent they were using the arguement of how should we know the idea was patented, but in these situations ignorance of the law is not an excuse.
EDIT: I should say this is not to defend Nintendo as I have no skin in this game as I care for neither Palworld or Pokemon.
@Ilyn So if they've edited the game, does that now mean the lawsuits will come to an end, or will Nintendo try gaining money from the folks for the duration the game had that system active?
It's still pretty disgusting imo. Palworld is nothing like Pokémon. Not as far as I could tell (despite a few creatures looking similar).
@Kaloudz It will likely still keep going. Changing it early would just affect any punitive damages they may be found liable for. Its a toss up of making the changes in good faith, but by making the changes you could be construed to have admitted fault by your actions.
I think it depends on exactly what they are doing them for. Nintendo are clearly not saints when it come to lawsuits, but if it is something like a code lift then Pocketpair dropped a huge clanger and brought it on themselves.
@Ilyn If it is indeed a copy of the code then I will withdraw everything I've said in their defence. If, however, there's been no lifting and this is just a design choice that they're upset over, then I hope they (Ninty) get a reality check in court.
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