Back in September Nintendo and The Pokemon Company filed a lawsuit in Japan against Palworld developer Pocketpair, and now we actually know why.
It's a messy situation and obviously given that it's Nintendo, a lot of media have wanted to know more specifics. So Pocketpair have put up a news post to do exactly that. Now remember this is about patents, not copyright, so it's not about any creatures included in Palworld.
Keep in mind, as Pocketpair make clear, that Palworld was released on January 19, 2024 here below are the patents that Pocketpair say Nintendo are using against them:
Patent No. 7545191
[Patent application date: July 30, 2024]
[Patent registration date: August 27, 2024]
Patent No. 7493117
[Patent application date: February 26, 2024]
[Patent registration date: May 22, 2024]
Patent No. 7528390
[Patent application date: March 5, 2024]
[Patent registration date: July 26, 2024]
Those individual patents were all applied for after Palworld was released. Looking through them it seems the focus of the patents covers game mechanics like catching creatures and riding creatures.
You might look at the dates Pocketpair gave there (which are correct) and think — well, they were filed after, so how can Nintendo sue using those? The answer is complicated. What Pocketpair don't say, is that these patents are from a parent patent which was registered in 2021 and approved in 2023, meaning it very much does end up applying here to Palworld.
What are Nintendo after then? An injunction against Palworld, a payment of 5 million yen plus late payment damages to The Pokémon Company and a payment of 5 million yen plus late payment damages to Nintendo Co., Ltd.
So if Nintendo / The Pokémon Company win, and it's entirely possible based on the patent situation that they might, we will likely see Palworld no longer for sale.
See more in the Pocketpair news post.
The situation goes well beyond Palworld though. These patents for such specific game mechanics could stifle creativity in other games, and allow Nintendo to go after other game developers if they choose to do so. There's a growing amount of monster catching games, and this could end up causing future developers to reconsider making one. What a mess.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Linux_Rocks about 4 hours ago
Quoting: Talon1024We can at least be thankful that they generally don't go after Nintendo-style games, or games inspired by Nintendo games.Thanks for linking to my thread, here - I hope that people are finding it useful.
Quoting: Talon1024So I believe the real reason Nintendo went after Palworld is because, as many have pointed out, some of the Palworld creature designs are blatant ripoffs of well-known Pokémon creature designs.That seems odd to me, since countless games decades ago already did that, sometimes even more blatantly, around the time that Pokemon was being released outside of Japan (after being big in Japan for a couple of years beforehand), and Nintendo took zero action then. The likes of Bomberman Max, Keitai Denjuu Telefang, and Robopon are just a tiny few examples.
I suspect that it's more to do with Pocketpair doing something that Nintendo has failed to capitalise on, and Nintendo throwing their toys out of the pram as a result. A recent data-breach at Pokemon developer Game Freak suggests that some titles branching out from the series' norm (such as an MMORPG and a racing-game) may be in the works, for example.
At any rate, it's ridiculous and Nintendo clearly aren't playing fair. This sort of thing is why I'm an ex-fan who's now a PC-gamer.
Last edited by Pengling on 8 November 2024 at 6:07 pm UTC
the real question is what is Nintendo end goal to get the money IMHO thay don't deserve or to kill the competition
Quoting: MadWolfbut the problem with there strategy shude be as clear as mario and luigi big nose if Nintendo start acting like a bad guy then the consumers are going to boycot Nintendo that will cost them more money than Nintendo you will get form this lawsuit Nintendo may also lose sales to consumers seting sailI can tell you from personal experience that if you bring up rightful criticisms in Nintendo circles, people will tell you that "you should be grateful" for what they're offering, as if companies are your friends. Nintendo behaving like they are here won't change any opinions over on that side of the fence, unfortunately.
Quoting: MadWolfthe real question is what is Nintendo end goal to get the money IMHO thay don't deserve or to kill the competitionIt's quite likely they're after a settlement that will give them a permanent share of the profits from something that they weren't good enough to create. They've done it with similar legal threats against a mobile game company, before.
Quoting: WikipediaThe player then has the ability to name their companion monsters, or "Monsties", ride them around in the overworld, and have them join the player in battles.
Philadelphus about 2 hours ago
Quoting: PenglingNintendo behaving like they are here won't change any opinions over on that side of the fence, unfortunately.That is unfortunately very obvious, since this is not the first time that they do what they usually do.
And it is the reason that I'm amused by the data-breach. Like the weird Sgt in It Ain't Half Hot Mum says – Oh dear, how sad, never mind. I wonder if they believe in Karma…
Quoting: PhiladelphusJust to point out, 5 million yen is…not actually that much. Different places give slightly different conversion, but it's on the order of 32,700 USD/ 30,500 euros. Which given that Palworld sells for $30 and has sold 25 million units, could probably be found under the couch cushions at Pocketpair headquarters, and is basically a rounding error for Nintendo. It's probably already cost Nintendo more in lawyer fees to file this case, so maybe they're aware of what thin ice they're skating on and are hoping Pocketpair will settle rather than fight, while making a big show of things to their faithful fanbase?
Oh, it's the patent troll playbook! Threaten with generic patents and try for a shake down, not too costly so hopefully you aren't fought in court, but negotiate out of court, put out a press release, and go on to the next target with a long list of licensees (actually just people who showed you the door and may or may not have paid to be rid of you).
In which case, the target is not quite Palword, but indie developers thinking of following the trend, who won't have the resources Pocketpair now has.
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me