Nintendo Lawsuit Halts Palworld PS5 Release in Japan

Nintendo Lawsuit Halts Palworld PS5 Release in Japan

From DualShockers (Written by Jaime Tugayev) on | OpenCritic

Gamers worldwide rejoiced when Palworld finally made it to the PlayStation 5... with one major exception.

The official English account's jubilant announcement of the release was followed by an apologetic note from its Japanese counterpart announcing the game was not coming out for PlayStation 5 in the region yet.

This setback comes less than a week after Nintendo filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair over Pokémon similarities, leading to rampant speculation that the two incidents are related.

Palworld caused a media storm when it came out in January this year. Along with the flood of new users came comparisons with major titles, particularly Pokémon and Fortnite.

If the Fortnite comparisons were more stylistic, Palworld did little to dispel its "Pokémon With Guns" moniker. While most pals were originals, many looked more than just inspired by Pokémon.

Legal experts believe the lawsuit may go well beyond character appearances, though.

Patent Warfare

Nintendo and Pocketpair have traded barbs since release, but the dispute only went legal on September 18, when Nintendo and The Pokémon Company filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court.

The corporate press release mentions "multiple patent rights" infringements, but does not offer specifics.

Japanese IP...

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