Palworld studio confirms gameplay features were removed due to ongoing Nintendo lawsuit
Palworld studio Pocketpair has confirmed that the removal of gameplay features in November was due to an ongoing lawsuit against Nintendo, with more changes planned for future updates.
The details:
In November 2024, Pocketpair altered the summoning mechanic for Pals, moving away from the use of Pal Spheres and instead simply spawning the monsters next to the player. While it did not comment on the reason for the change at the time, players speculated that it was due to its lawsuit with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. The lawsuit claims that Pocketpair infringed on several patents describing gameplay mechanics found in Pokémon, such as capturing and summoning monsters with a ball-shaped object.
In a post to X on Thursday, the developer confirmed that fans were correct and said that it was "disappointed" that the summoning mechanic had to be changed. It explained that if it did not make the change, the alternative would result in "greater deterioration of the gameplay experience" and that it must "make certain compromises in order to avoid disruptions to the development and distribution of Palworld."
However, the changes will not stop there; Pocketpair has confirmed that the game's next update, Patch v0.5.5, will remove gliding with Pals, forcing the player to use a separate glider. It states that certain Pals will still provide gliding buffs, but players must have a glider in their inventory to use the mechanic at all. "We understand that this will be disappointing for many, just as it is for us, but we hope our fans understand that these changes are necessary in order to prevent further disruptions to the development of Palworld," the studio wrote.
Pocketpair responded to the lawsuit last month, arguing that claims that it infringed on any of the three alleged patents are invalid as many games have used similar mechanics despite being released years before the patents were filed.
More gaming news:
The FTC has lost its appeal against Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, after its request for an injunction was initially rejected in 2023.
Bungie has unveiled Destiny 2's "Year of Prophecy," which will kick off a new story arc and include two paid expansions and two free major updates.
