Summary
- Palworld team focusing on bringing crossplay support to the game for increased accessibility.
- Pocketpair has moved past legal drama with Nintendo to focus on game updates and quality.
- Pocketpair handling Nintendo lawsuit aftermath, facing backlash but continuing development.
Pocketpair global community manager John Buckley shared some of the Palworld team’s thoughts following Nintendo’s lawsuit against the company. Much of the drama over the case appears to be getting handled behind the scenes until Pocketpair has something more substantial to share with its following. The current focus of the team appears to be bringing full crossplay support to Palworld, making it even more accessible than before.
It generally seems like Pocketpair has moved past talk of its legal predicament with Nintendo that began in 2024. Since then, the studio has focused on giving Palworld meaningful updates and ensuring that the game is up to a high standard for fans who are still enjoying it. Although the conversation about the lawsuit Nintendo issued Pocketpair has settled down a bit, members of the development team finally seem a bit more comfortable discussing some of their reactions to the event.
Related
Palworld’s Crossplay Update Could Herald the Coming of One Major Milestone
Crossplay is coming to Palworld soon via a new update, and the addition of this feature may signify something the game has been working towards.
In a talk with PCGamer at GDC 2025, John Buckley, Pocketpair’s global community manager, opened up about the studio’s response to its patent infringement lawsuit. Buckley regarded the day Nintendo and The Pokemon Company sued Pocketpair as a “very depressing” one, noting that much of the game’s team consists of huge Pokemon fans. Elaborating on the matter, Buckley said “it changed a lot of things for us.” Having so many members on their team who are passionate about a game they’re now being sued over appears to have influenced their outlook on matters.
Palworld Team Speaks Up About Nintendo Lawsuit
There are clear similarities between Pokemon and Palworld, but PocketPair’s team stated that the game went through many legal checks before it was released. It took their lawyers some time to assess that the lawsuit was about patents Nintendo recently filed. Although many people assumed that Pocketpair might have been sued over similarities in the designs of its Pals, which many gamers have claimed resemble Pokemon too much, the crux of this lawsuit is Nintendo’s creature-capture system.
Patent Analyst Florian Meuller spoke to Game Rant, describing Nintendo’s actions with this lawsuit as “a clear case of bullying,” and many gamers appear to agree with this characterization. Despite the support the company has received, many still view Pocketpair as the party that has overstepped. Following the intense reactions to this lawsuit, Pocketpair has had to hire security guards. Buckley says that the company has intentionally scaled back the scope of some of its outings, such as its presence at Tokyo Game Show 2024. Despite all the controversy, the case hasn’t been settled yet. John Buckley shared that following the legal actions taken against Palworld, it doesn’t seem like many companies could survive a situation like this, which could paint a bleak future for those looking to make games inspired by either franchise.
Open-World
Shooter
Survival
- Released
-
January 19, 2024
- ESRB
-
T For Teen Due To Violence
- Developer(s)
-
Pocket Pair, Inc.
- Publisher(s)
-
Pocket Pair, Inc.