Palworld Looks To Monster Hunter And Zelda To Defend Against Nintendo's Patent Lawsuit
The company is invoking prior game releases from other studios, publishers and even game mods, in a bid to invalidate Nintendo’s patent claims. It lists Tomb Raider, Far Cry 5, Titanfall 2 and Monster Hunter as examples of games featuring several of the the elements found in the capturing mechanic in Pokémon games. Additionally, it tackles the issues of the patent regarding “smooth switching,” when a player is riding an object, by highlighting similar features in ARK and The Legend of Zelda.
However, Pocketpair will be mostly relying on Craftopia, a title that the company released to far less fanfare back in 2020. The game has several elements that would go on to feature prominently in Palworld, which Pocketpair is claiming covers the patent pertaining to releasing characters that fight on behalf of the player, which is represented in a Nintendo patent that started in December of 2021.
How this case winds its way through the Japanese legal system will be critical for Nintendo. The company has already suffered a huge setback when the United States Patent and Trademark Office invalidated the vast majority of the patents it was hoping to use against Pocketpair. Losing in both countries would be a big blow for Nintendo, as the company often relies on being able to flex its legal muscles against competitors, as well as the gaming community in general.
Game studios often pick up, modify or improve gameplay mechanics that have debuted in other games. Gamers will want to keep tabs on how cases in both countries continue to develop, as Nintendo is essentially seeking to attack a fundamental way in which game development has often taken place over the years.
