Palworld developer says Pokémon lawsuit will prompt more “disappointing” changes, as it continues to “dispute” claims

Palworld developer Pocketpair has released a statement regarding changes to its monster catching survival game which were made due to its ongoing Pokémon lawsuit.

Nintendo announced it was suing Pocketpair for infringement of “multiple” patents towards the end of last year. It was later confirmed the lawsuit was targeting three patents in particular. Then, as part of a winter update, Pocketpair subsequently removed the ability to summon creatures by throwing Pokéball-style Pal Spheres.

Writing on social media platform X earlier today, Pocketpair expressed its disappointment that such actions were required back then, before stating it was now having to make “yet another compromise” due to the lawsuit.

This ‘compromise’ arrives with Patch v0.5.5. “From this patch onward, gliding will be performed using a glider rather than with Pals,” the Palworld team wrote. “Pals in the player’s team will still provide passive buffs to gliding, but players will now need to have a glider in their inventory in order to glide.”

The developer said it understood this would be “disappointing for many”, just as it is for the Palworld team. However, it said the changes are “necessary in order to prevent further disruptions” to the game’s development, and it remains “committed… to delivering exciting new content” for players.

Pocketpair said it disputes the claims made against it, and still “[asserts] the invalidity of the patents in question”.

Ever since Palworld was first revealed, comparisons were made between Pocketpair’s own monster-catching title and Pokémon. In fact, Palworld was dubbed ‘Pokémon with guns’ ahead of its early access release last year, and soon after its debut The Pokémon Company’s former chief legal officer Don McGowan said he was “surprised” the game had “got this far”.

Last month, Pocketpair responded to Nintendo’s legal action by asserting the patents The Pokémon Company believes Pocketpair has contravened are invalid due to other games that came before it, including Ark: Survival Evolved, Tomb Raider, and even Nintendo’s own Legend of Zelda series.