Summary
Fans have made a petition hoping to convince Nintendo to drop its lawsuit againstPalworld.Palworldwas released in early access in January 2024 and was an instant success. Fans flocked to the open world survival game and its unique “Pokemonwith guns” style of gameplay, butPalworld’s similarities to Nintendo’s big franchise has caused issues since the start.
There are somePalworldPals that look near-identical to existing Pokemon, which caused Pocketpair’s game to be heavily criticized by some fans. Months after its early access launch, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company filed a lawsuit, claimingPalworldinfringed on their patents. Nintendo then filed fresh patents in the US surrounding certainPokemonmechanics that also pop up inPalworld. The way that Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have gone about this has not sat well with fans, as it has forced Pocketpair to make unfortunate changes toPalworld’s design. For example,Palworldno longer allows players to summon Pals by throwing Pal Spheres, but instead simply teleports them to the player’s location. More recently,Palworldchanged glidingso that players can no longer glide with their Pals, but instead have to use a glider.
The unfortunatePalworldchanges as a result of the lawsuit have upset fans and inspired them to create a petition asking NIntendo to stop. TheChange.org petition, started by Jamesen DeMann, has 208 signatures at the time of this writing. It accuses Nintendo of trying to “monopolize game mechanics,” which “stifles the creativity that the gaming community thrives on.” Nintendo has not responded to the petition and is unlikely to do so, even if it gets a surge of new signatures.
Petition Wants Nintendo to ‘Drop Legal Actions’ Against Palworld’s Developers
Unless the courts rule in favor ofPalworld, it’s likely that more changes are on the way between now and its 1.0 launch, whenever that may be. But that doesn’t mean all updates for the game will be bad news. Controversial changes may be made, but futurePalworldupdates will add significant new content to the game as well, including new areas to explore and Pals to catch.Palworldhas been an incredible commercial success, and it should still have a bright future, even if it has to work around the Nintendo lawsuit.
This is far from the first time that video game mechanic patents have caused a stir in the industry. The popular Nemesis system from theMiddle-earthgames was patented by Warner Bros. Game in a particularly controversial move, especially in the wake ofdeveloper Monolith Productions being shut downand itsWonder Womangame canceled.
