Why haven’t Palworld creators been sued by Nintendo?

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If you have had the joy of playing Palworld or even seen any media surrounding it, you may have noticed that the similarities to Pokémon are uncanny. Nintendo is notoriously protective of its intellectual property, so it begs the question, how have Pocket Pair not been sued into oblivion?

Not the first of its kind

I think the main fortress Palworld can stand behind is the freedom of the genre. Palworld isn’t the first game to use the pocket monsters idea and develop it into an RPG. Other titles like Monster Sanctuary and Nexomon have both taken the concept and turned it into a role-playing game. Nintendo has left both of these games well alone.

Why haven't Palworld creators been sued by Nintendo?
PC Invasion

Along with these pocket monster RPG-style games are a huge selection of other similar cartoons. Yu-Gi-Oh and Digimon have had huge followings and all the related media that goes along with it. Games, cards, toys, and other merchandise have existed off the back of these franchises without a suing situation from Nintendo.

Nintendo, although certainly being the most famous, are not the owners of the pocket monster genre. Pokémon is by far the most recognisable, but there is still free reign over creating something new inside the genre. However, some of the resemblance between Palworld and Pokémon go a little further than just this.

Visual similarities

What really got the fans talking about the possible legal action against Pocket Pair by Nintendo is the similarities in the monsters. Many of the monsters shown in the trailer have uncanny likeness to the well-loved monsters of Pokémon. Within the first few minutes of gameplay, there are creatures that are almost the spitting image of Wooloo and Evee.

Palworld All Fire Pals In Paldeck Foxsparks
Image: Pocketpair

However, despite the similarities in appearance, these little creatures are also pretty much just based on animals we have in real life. So maybe both Palworld and Pokémon have monsters that look like sheep or foxes. It’s not like Nintendo own the visual rights to nature… do they?

Nintendo, despite its reputation for suing anyone who attempts any kind of intellectual theft, might have a hard time claiming the rights to wild animals. This being said, there are a few creatures that have little resemblance to nature and can still be seen in Palworld. This may end up being a problem for Palworld in the long run, but owning likeness is a hard battle to win.

All powerful Nintendo

Some of you may remember the vast lawsuit that swept the internet back in 2016 in which Nintendo shut down many indie homage games. With one big legal threat, hundreds of games were removed from hosting sites. Over 500 fan-made games, ranging from Metroid to Pokémon, were removed from sites like Game Jolt.

Creators of the indie games, hosts, and collaborators all received the same letter threatening legal action. Some games had seen teams working for years to create their homages to their favourite and often forgotten games. Nintendo was having none of it. Overnight, hundreds of games were taken down.

Nintendo sue palworld
Screenshot: PC Invasion

One game, in particular, comes to relevance in the lists of the fallen. Pokémon Uranium had been in production for around 9 years when the cease and desist came through from Nintendo. The title was immediately dropped only days after it had finally released.

Palworld seems to be safe from the Nintendo legal team so far. However, there was no way they weren’t aware of the hundreds of fan-made games from before. Sometimes it seems they simply bide their time and strike when the damage is the most devastating. Once the money and time have been sunk in the game, it is time to wave the legal hammer and bring a company to its knees.

Nintendo need to step up to the plate

Fans have been begging for a 3d open-world RPG version of Pokémon ever since the game first came out. Pokemon Legends: Arceus seemed to be what the fans were looking for, but it just missed the mark somehow. It was the same old formula, and that was maybe where it fell down.

With Palworld, Pocket Pair has taken the things that are so well-loved in Pokémon and breathed new life into the game. With the elements of base building, resource collection, resource management, and, of course, cold-blooded murder, the original game has been switched up. Now, with its new formula, the game appeals to many more folk.

Nintendo often gets stuck in its ways, afraid to shake up the proven methods. I think this is what has held Pokémon back. Now, with the release of Palworld, we see the monster-capturing fun of Pokémon taken into a whole new genre. I think this is what will save Palworld from being sued by Nintendo.

Why haven't Palworld creators been sued by Nintendo?
PC Invasion

Palworld brings enough new elements to the table that it sets itself quite far away from the game it is being compared to. Yes, there are elements of Pokémon in the game, but there are a lot of new ones too. Some of the models may look like carbon copies of Nintendos, but again, the likeness is debatable.

Palworld is hopefully delivering something that fans have been asking for for years, but Nintendo has been too deaf to hear. Sometimes it takes an indie dev with a pair of balls and some very good copyright legal knowledge to bring the players what they want. With Nintendo producing weaker Pokémon games than ever, it is time someone took their ideas and ran.

It may not be peachy for long

Although Palworld has its definite defining features, it could still be in the sights of Nintendo’s legal team. It may be the case that putting together the lawsuit or judging the competition is taking time. To really bring Palworld to its knees, Nintendo will need to make sure their case can’t be refuted. A lot of what makes Palworld so similar to Pokémon can be disputed.

Palworld is still in early development, and it is far from polished. The case may be that Nintendo simply doesn’t care enough about the small team to be worried. The game has a long way to go until it is at AAA standards, but sometimes, when a ball gets rolling, it sure picks up pace. I will be interested to see how Nintendo inevitably respond to the mounting questions about the similarities in the two games.

 

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