Nintendo's Pokemon Co. to Investigate Palworld for Potential Lawsuit

The Pokémon-like game Palworld better invest in some good lawyers. Nintendo is signaling it’ll try to sue Palworld’s developer, Pocketpair, for intellectual property infringement of the Pokémon franchise.

“We have not granted any permission for the use of Pokémon intellectual property or assets in that game,” Nintendo’s Pokémon Company said in a statement on Thursday. “We intend to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon.”

The Pokémon Co.—a joint venture between Nintendo, Creatures Inc. and GAME FREAK—didn’t reference Palworld by name. Still, the company issued the statement, noting it had “received many inquiries regarding another company’s game released in January 2024,” 

The Pokémon Co. added: “We will continue to cherish and nurture each and every Pokémon and its world, and work to bring the world together through Pokémon in the future.”

The company issued the statement after users and media outlets described Palworld as "Pokémon with guns." Some of the game’s elemental monsters even resemble Pokémon, which has sparked a controversy over whether Palworld ripped off Nintendo’s hit franchise. 

"It’s totally fine for works of art to take inspiration from each other, [but] an increasing amount of compelling evidence suggests that whatever developer Pocketpair is doing isn't quite as ethical or defensible," PCMag's Jordan Minor wrote in his first impressions of the early access game. "Palworld’s 3D models are way too close to Pokémon models to be a coincidence."

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It now looks like Nintendo wants to crack down. But despite the veiled legal threat, Tokyo-based Pocketpair seems confident it can fend off any lawsuit. CEO Takuro Mizobe told Automaton that the game cleared legal reviews. “We make our games very seriously, and we have absolutely no intention of infringing upon the intellectual property of other companies,” he said. 

In the meantime, Palworld has been so popular with PC gamers that it's sold over 8 million copies on Steam in a mere six days after its launch. The peak concurrent player count for Palworld also recently reached 2 million, the second highest of any game on Steam behind PUBG: Battlegrounds.