Nintendo’s New Anti-Palworld Pokemon Patent is Missing the Forest For The Trees

by

Following its legal dispute with Palworld, Nintendo stirred up the gaming community with a fresh Pokemon-related patent. This newly issued document lays out the fundamental “call a creature to fight enemies” gameplay feature that is core to Pokemon, potentially enabling Nintendo to take legal action against U.S. game studios accused of violating this patent by incorporating similar mechanics in their games. Although initially aimed at Palworld, the ramifications of this new patent could extend across the entire gaming industry.

As a passionate gamer, I can’t help but feel that Palworld somehow managed to capture Nintendo’s attention – and it’s not hard to see why! Ever since its unveiling, the game has been often referred to as “Pokemon with guns.” Yet, it’s essential to clarify that a copyright infringement claim is quite distinct from a patent infringement based on gameplay mechanics.

Frankly, I find Nintendo’s aggressive stance here perplexing, especially when you consider the vast difference in profits between these two intellectual properties. It seems like they might be blowing things out of proportion with this move.

Palworld Was Never a Real Threat to Pokemon

How Pocketpair Drew Nintendo’s Wrath

By July 2025, the global phenomenon known as Pokemon is projected to hold the record for the most profitable multimedia franchise ever, outperforming iconic franchises such as Star Wars, Winnie the Pooh, and Mickey Mouse with an accumulated revenue exceeding $113 billion over almost three decades. Additionally, based on figures from 2024, Nintendo has sold approximately half a billion units of various Pokemon games, making it the fourth most successful video game franchise in history.

  • Mario: 957 million
  • Tetris: 520 million
  • Call of Duty: 500 million
  • Pokemon: 489 million

The game known as Palworld achieved massive success, selling over 15 million copies within its first month, earning it a spot among the top-selling PC games ever. In fact, with nearly half a billion dollars in earnings, it managed to garner some negative attention from Nintendo. However, it’s important to note that Palworld operates in a different league compared to Pokemon.

In simpler terms, the game called Palworld isn’t just developed by a small team, but it also breaks away from the typical indie genre. While it does feature creature collection and combat, it falls under the action-adventure survival category – something Pokémon doesn’t offer yet. Even though the fanbase for Palworld might overlap with Pokémon, it wouldn’t significantly impact Nintendo’s earnings.

Despite the circumstances, Nintendo’s lawsuit against Palworld holds valid points. It is crucial that video games safeguard their intellectual properties, given the strong similarities between Palworld’s Pal Spheres and removed elements, as well as certain Pals resembling Pokémon, it’s clear that inspiration was drawn from Nintendo’s iconic pocket monsters. However, by filing a patent infringement suit instead of a copyright claim, and adding multiple patents to game mechanics, Nintendo seems to be casting a broad net that could potentially result in unintended harm to the gaming industry at large.

The True Danger of Pokemon’s New Creature Battle Patent

In simpler terms, patent number 12,403,397 by Nintendo describes a legal protection for a game mechanic where a character summons a creature to aid in battles or guide the player until they encounter an enemy. Essentially, this means that Nintendo could potentially take legal action against any game developer who implements these specific features without obtaining permission from Nintendo first.

  • The game is stored on a computer or other console.
  • The character can move in a virtual space.
  • The character can cause “sub-characters” to appear.
  • If an enemy is present when the sub-character appears, the sub-character battles them.
  • If an enemy is not present, the sub-character automatically moves.
  • If the sub-character encounters an enemy, it will battle them.

This patent, hypothetically, might be employed by Nintendo to challenge high-profile titles such as “Diablo 4” or “Final Fantasy”. However, it’s more accurate to view this patent as a warning aimed at smaller game developers. Indie studios would struggle to acquire the necessary mechanics from Nintendo without incurring substantial legal fees. The potential threat of Nintendo’s patent could potentially eliminate an entire category of games, which might lead to a backlash from fans who may reconsider purchasing future iterations of games like “Pokemon”.

Nintendo almost attempted to copyright the concept of jumping in video games following ‘Super Mario Bros.’, but Shigeru Miyamoto voiced opposition, deeming it unfair to other creators, as he felt it was too harsh or restrictive.

Every fresh patent similar to this serves as a potential obstacle to navigate – it’s the independent game creators who are likely to bear the brunt. Here’s hoping that this harmful pattern subsides soon, sparing small developers from being driven out of the industry by the maneuvers of giants such as Nintendo.

Read More

2025-09-11 23:36