Summary
- Nintendo President Furukawa reiterates the company's stance against those who infringe their intellectual property rights.
- Palworld's unique blend of gameplay mechanics has made it incredibly popular, but fans worry Nintendo might pursue legal action due to its similarities to Pokemon.
- Tackling the Palworld controversy might be tricky for Nintendo, as the core premise of the game is quite different from Pokemon and proving copyright infringement could be difficult.
Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has commented on the ongoing Palworld controversy. The release of the game ignited a major controversy in the gaming community, to the extent that Palworld developers started getting death threats from a few Pokemon fans.
Palworld has hands down been one of the biggest sensations of this year. Palworld's unique blend of monster-catching and survival mechanics, has proven to be incredibly popular. While there is an ongoing concern in the community that Nintendo might pursue legal action against the game for its similarities to Pokemon, Furukawa reiterated the company's stance.
Every Elden Ring Reference in Palworld Explained
While many are comparing Palworld to the Pokemon franchise, players have found the game contains some references to FromSoftware's Elden Ring as well.
In a Q&A session after its latest earnings call (via Reuters), Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa was questioned about the Palworld controversy. Without naming the game in particular, just like the earlier statement, Furukawa said, "We will take appropriate action against those that infringe our intellectual property rights." While Nintendo hasn't taken any coercive action against Palworld in particular, it has swiftly dealt with things around it, such as taking down the first Palworld Pokemon mod.
"We will take appropriate action against those that infringe our intellectual property rights."
Tackling The Palworld Fiasco Might Be Tricky For Nintendo
Pokemon with guns isn't an entirely unique concept, as a Pokemon first-person shooter was taken down by Nintendo before it could even materialize. However, that project featured actual Pokemon, whereas Palworld does not. When it comes to Palworld, it is actually quite a tricky path to tread for Nintendo, considering the fact that the core premise of the game is actually quite different from what the Pokemon games have to offer.
Notably, The Pokemon Company's former Chief Legal Officer Don McGowan had called the game "ripoff nonsense," stating that they had witnessed several such instances in the past. Other industry experts have suggested that the case is much more complicated for Nintendo this time around, considering it might be quite difficult to prove copyright infringement and Palworld's current popularity could invite a huge load of backlash from the gaming community.
Palworld
- Released
- January 19, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
In this game, you can peacefully live alongside mysterious creatures known as Pals or risk your life to drive off a ruthless poaching syndicate. Pals can be used to fight and breed, or they can be made to work on farms or factories. You can even sell them or eat them.
Survival: In a harsh environment where food is scarce and vicious poachers roam, danger waits around every corner. To survive, you must tread carefully and make difficult choices...even if that means eating your own Pals when the time comes.
Mounts & Exploration: Pals can be mounted to traverse the land, sea and sky—allowing you to traverse all kinds of environment as you explore the world.
Collect all kinds of exciting Pals to fight, farm, build, and work for you in this completely new multiplayer, open world survival and crafting game!
- Developer(s)
- Pocket Pair, Inc.
- Publisher(s)
- Pocket Pair, Inc.
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- Genre(s)
- Open-World, Shooter, Survival
