Palworld revamps summoning mechanic amid patent infringement lawsuit filed by Nintendo
Pocketpair has announced a few changes to the creature-summoning mechani in Palworld. This comes amid the studio’s legal battle with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company.
- According to the latest patch notes, Palworld users can no longer throw a Pal Sphere to summon a captured Pal to a specific place. Instead, creatures will now always be summoned near the player.
- It is worth noting that the ability to catch Pals using Pal Spheres, similar to Pokémon games, remained unchanged.
- The update went live on November 30 and was spotted by Niche Gamer and several other outlets over the weekend.
- Pocketpair hasn’t explained why it decided to change the summoning mechanic, but it is clearly related to the ongoing legal battle with Nintendo.
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company filed a lawsuit against Pocketpair in September, accusing the studio of patent infringement and seeking compensation for damages. The three target patents, filed after the launch of Palworld, are protecting creature-catching and riding mechanics, as well as spawning them in a 3D environment.
The Pokémon Company and Nintendo are seeking ¥10 million ($65.8k) in damages, but IP attorney Kirk Sigmon told PC Gamer that “you’re burning millions of dollars just trying to make this go away.”
Palworld is one of the most successful game releases of 2024, selling 15 million copies on Steam alone and reaching 10 million players on Xbox in its first month.
