Palworld developer Pocket Pair, Inc. has fired back at the lawsuit from Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. After the Pokémon publishers claimed that Palworld copied their games, Pocketpair has pointed out how their survival title is an amalgamation of other franchises. It’s an interesting defense, and one that The Pokémon Company might not have a solid response to.
A post on GamesFray (via VGC) has revealed Pocketpair’s defense against Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. Countering the lawsuit that claims Pokémon has a patent on creature capturing, Pocketpair revealed that their other game, Craftopia, did something similar. There’s also no lawsuit being filed against Craftopia, Pockerpair argues.
The devs also point out how there are other existing games that let you catch and release smaller creatures. It’s not just Palworld, as Rune Factory 5, Titanfall 2, and Pikmin 3 Deluxe were named as similar games. Pocketpair also brought up a number of games that use similar mechanics to Pokémon, including Final Fantasy 14, Octopath Traveller, and more.
Fans will remember how Palworld captured everyone’s interest when the game was first released last year. Many joked that it was essentially “Pokémon with guns,” which is where some of the controversy came from. There were also allegations made by fans claiming that Palworld used AI to make “original” creatures based on existing Pokémon, though that was never proven.
Despite this lawsuit, Pocketpair was able to keep releasing updates for their survival sim. The game has had plenty of Raid Bosses and updates since, keeping fans of Palworld fairly happy. Only time will tell if we get more of these updates or if the lawsuit has a grim fate for this game.
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