Lawsuit Looms While Pocketpair Drops Old Game on Switch

ByEng Published onJanuary 9, 2025January 9, 2025

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Pocketpair, the developer behind ‘Palworld’, is currently facing a patent infringement lawsuit from Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. The lawsuit, filed in September 2024, alleges that ‘Palworld’ infringes on multiple patents, particularly concerning the mechanics of catching and releasing creatures.

Despite these legal challenges, Pocketpair has continued its development efforts. In December 2024, they released a significant update for ‘Palworld’, version 0.3.11, aiming to differentiate its gameplay mechanics from those of Pokémon.

This update altered the behavior of summoning player-owned creatures, ensuring they are always summoned near the player. However, this patch introduced several bugs, leading to player frustration and immediate complaints on social media. Pocketpair acknowledged these issues and has been working on subsequent patches to address them.

In a surprising move, Pocketpair has also released one of its earlier titles, ‘Overdungeon’, on the Nintendo Switch. Originally launched in early access on PC in 2018, ‘Overdungeon’ combines elements of card games, tower defense, and roguelike genres.

The game’s sudden appearance on the Switch eShop, especially amid the ongoing lawsuit, has raised eyebrows. Nintendo’s decision to host a game from a developer it is currently suing seems unusual, yet ‘Overdungeon’ is now available for Switch players to enjoy.

As for the lawsuit, specific details about the patents in question remain undisclosed. Legal experts suggest that such cases can be prolonged, potentially lasting several years. Pocketpair has expressed its commitment to resolving the matter and continues to focus on delivering enjoyable gaming experiences to its audience.

In summary, while Pocketpair navigates the complexities of a legal battle with Nintendo, it remains active in the gaming industry. The release of ‘Overdungeon’ on the Switch and ongoing updates to ‘Palworld’ demonstrates the developer’s dedication to its projects and its community, even in the face of significant challenges.

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Eng

Ysmael “Eng” Delicana is a writer based in Davao City, Philippines. He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics at Ateneo de Davao University before continuing to teach part-time at the same university. While teaching was a fun gig, being a geek and a writer seemed to be his calling. His expertise includes fantasy shows and movies, comic books, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and popular RPG video games. Ysmael also excels at learning new things and getting to know new topics that are interesting yet foreign to him, and that’s why he can also be called a jack of all trades. He also works as a part-time writer for books about sports. As an avid fan of fantasy TV shows, video games, and books, Ysmael is fond of watching, playing, and reading things related to fantasy, magic, and mystical creatures. However, he is also a huge fan of anime, as he spends a portion of his time watching shonen anime. As long as something is interesting and worth his time, Ysmael tends to devote his effort to it, as he has been great at geeking out about a certain topic. Ysmael’s writing style tends to be quite conversational in the sense that he likes speaking to the readers instead of making them feel like they are reading something tedious. He picked up this during his teaching years because he needed to find ways to simplify topics that tend to be foreign and complex to students. Ysmael also writes for Comic Basics.

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