Palworld draws Nintendo's ire as Pokémon developer sues over patent infringements — Pocketpair plays dumb

[Redaktion]

Nintendo officially announced that it, along with The Pokémon Company, had filed a lawsuit against Pocketpair, the developer behind the smash-hit game, Palworld. The lawsuit comes as a surprise to absolutely no-one, but Pocketpair has feigned ignorance in its response.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Palworld-draws-Nintendo-s-ire-as-Pokemon-developer-sues-over-patent-infringements-Pocketpair-plays-dumb.890544.0.html

[N71]

If I were you, I would remove the last paragraph as soon as possible before Nintendo comes and takes the site down.

[Papsy]

Take a chill pill,Nintendo doesn't own the the act 'emulation' or wah that paragraph may mean.

[hugh mungus]

"In January 2024, long before Nintendo even filed the suit against Pocketpair, a user on X discovered some rather damning evidence that Palworld almost directly ripped off several 3D models from Nintendo's Pokémon games."

This assertion was soundly disproven though and has nothing to do with any sort of patent infringement.

Poorly written article.

[N71]

Take a chill pill,Nintendo doesn't own the the act 'emulation' or wah that paragraph may mean.

This paragraph clearly gives two options, one legal and one illegal, emulation is only legal if you have the console and the games.

[Anon_38246]

"damning evidence that Palworld almost directly ripped off several 3D models from Nintendo's Pokémon games"

Do you have a source on this? Because the original polygon comparisons made on Twitter have been debunked as doctored images and the original poster confirmed this too (screenshot compilation on Reddit->Palworld->PSA user who claimed that Palworld assets are-).

Also, keep in mind Pokémon designs aren't original. They are based on multiple mythologies and the animal kingdom, these creatures include:

• Eevee & Cremis are based on Carbuncles from Chilean mythology,
• Lucario & Anubis are based on... Anubis, from Egyptian mythology,
• Galarian Meowth & Grintale are based on the Cheshire Cat,
• The Lati twins & Jetragon are based on the amount of jet dragons in media,
• Lycanroc & Direhowl are based on a Unity model and both are slightly modified,

I can go on, but the general jist is Palworld definitely took inspiration from some Pokémon models (Verdash & Cinderace), however they did not outright copy them. Most of these comparisons like Orserk & Garchomp or Astegon & Mega Aggron or Empaca & Empolean need you to squint really hard to see any similarities.

This comment could be its own article, but the truth of the matter is far too many journalists reported on knee-jerk claims made by Twitter birds without doing any research. Two Pair's own blogs transparently lays out their method of development is buying Unity assets and changing them slightly, they do not rely on AI and they do not outright thieve.

This subject is so badly covered by journalists it's its own echo-chamber. Sure, Two Pair definitely took liberties in marketing towards disheartened Pokémon fans and mimicking successful design, but they aren't con artists like many claim they are. Nintendo knows they can't sue Palworld for the creature designs because Pokémon don't own ancient mythology (although they would if they could).

[DS27]

"damning evidence that Palworld almost directly ripped off several 3D models from Nintendo's Pokémon games"

Do you have a source on this? Because the original polygon comparisons made on Twitter have been debunked as doctored images and the original poster confirmed this too (screenshot compilation on Reddit->Palworld->PSA user who claimed that Palworld assets are-).

Also, keep in mind Pokémon designs aren't original. They are based on multiple mythologies and the animal kingdom, these creatures include:

• Eevee & Cremis are based on Carbuncles from Chilean mythology,
• Lucario & Anubis are based on... Anubis, from Egyptian mythology,
• Galarian Meowth & Grintale are based on the Cheshire Cat,
• The Lati twins & Jetragon are based on the amount of jet dragons in media,
• Lycanroc & Direhowl are based on a Unity model and both are slightly modified,

I can go on, but the general jist is Palworld definitely took inspiration from some Pokémon models (Verdash & Cinderace), however they did not outright copy them. Most of these comparisons like Orserk & Garchomp or Astegon & Mega Aggron or Empaca & Empolean need you to squint really hard to see any similarities.

This comment could be its own article, but the truth of the matter is far too many journalists reported on knee-jerk claims made by Twitter birds without doing any research. Two Pair's own blogs transparently lays out their method of development is buying Unity assets and changing them slightly, they do not rely on AI and they do not outright thieve.

This subject is so badly covered by journalists it's its own echo-chamber. Sure, Two Pair definitely took liberties in marketing towards disheartened Pokémon fans and mimicking successful design, but they aren't con artists like many claim they are. Nintendo knows they can't sue Palworld for the creature designs because Pokémon don't own ancient mythology (although they would if they could).

They not only can, they will win. You don't understand anything about laws.

[Anon_38246]

"You don't understand anything about laws."
Due to your lack of rebuttal or any attempt at all to bring up a single relevant law to refute my point, I can only conclude you also know nothing about law. Furthermore, this court case is about a patent, not creature designs. It goes to show this is another petty attempt by Nintendo to silence competition like they have been doing to fan-games for over a decade. Please don't stan for a multi-billion dollar company.

[Whoosh]

or any attempt at all to bring up a single relevant law to refute my point, I can only conclude you also know nothing about law.

I think you missed his point. Often times it's not which side of the law your on but how long you can go through paying for expensive legal proceedings which often can go on for several years. That's pretty much why people say the law is on the side of the powerful and rich.

A recent example was when the Nintendo vs Yuzu lawsuit happened. Many in the emulation community said that Nintendo really had no real legal basis of winning it but in the end they still won and yuzu just gave up. Because of money. Because if somehow Nintendo did up making a justification and the courts did somehow manage to rule in their favour. It wouldn't just be bad for yuzu but have long lasting implications for the emulation / preservation community as a whole.

Personally, I've zero interest in Nintendo or their Pokémon games and wish they'd just disappear into irrelevancy / stop being posted by news outlets. In fact, I feel this could of all been avoided if people just stopped buying their Pokémon games. They're literally the ones funding Nintendo legal team. Stop buying their stuff and they don't have the money to sue anyone. No idea why people are obsessed the franchise to begin with (and yes I did grow up during that era when it first started getting big).

[chithanh]

A recent example was when the Nintendo vs Yuzu lawsuit happened. Many in the emulation community said that Nintendo really had no real legal basis of winning it but in the end they still won and yuzu just gave up.

I think you did not follow the Yuzu case properly.

What broke Yuzu's neck was not emulation per se, that part of the lawsuit could have been contested in court and probably Yuzu would have won.

What broke them was copyright infringement. In particular it was found that illegal copies Zelda TOTK had been circulating among the developer team prior to release, and they had been selling special versions of Yuzu which ran Zelda TOTK to other holders of illegal copies. So they profited off piracy in unequivocally illegal ways.

What is interesting with Palworld and different to Yuzu is that Nintendo does claim patent infringement this time, rather than copyright infringement. Folks have already identified software patents relating to Pokémon gameplay mechanics. In case it relates to gameplay, Pocketpair could just modify the relevant mechanics and continue to sell the game.