Shortly after the release of Palworld, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company said it would investigate allegations that Pocketpair had copied the designs of some of its monsters. Things then went quiet.
That was until yesterday, when Nintendo confirmed that, alongside The Pokemon Company, it would be filing a lawsuit for 'patent infringement' against the Japanese indie developers. Pocketpair swiftly responded, saying it "will begin the appropriate legal proceedings and investigations into the claims of patent infringement."
The interview in question was reportedly conducted several months ago.
While it's unclear exactly what patent infringement Pocketpair has allegedly committed, the team is about to endure a stress-inducing period, something its community is aware of. Over the 18-or-so hours since the lawsuit was announced, hundreds of players have taken to social media to rally around Pocketpair in a show of support.
When Palworld launched in January, it became a cultural phenomenon. It sold millions of copies and became, at the time, the game with the second-highest concurrent player count ever on Steam, though it has now dropped to third since the release of Black Myth: Wukong. These millions of players fostered a thriving community.
Although its player count has...