One of 2024’s early and surprise big-hitters was Palworld, the game that swiftly became known as Pokémon with guns (even though it’s much more of a survival-type experience). Success was instantaneous, with the game’s ridiculous sights especially suited to streaming, and since launch developer Pocketpair has maintained a steady rhythm of new content (the game remains in early access).
Then, Pokémon turned its guns on Palworld. Nintendo filed an intellectual property lawsuit against the studio in September, saying it “infringes multiple patent rights”, specifically three that relate to creature catching and riding mechanics. The actual damages being sought are relatively minor, but it’s the kind of thing that will cost millions to fight and, barring some sort of settlement, will hang over the game for years to come.
But why the doom and gloom? Pocketpair seems to have half-expected something like this from the start, and has responded by… doubling down on new Palworld content. The studio has announced that Palworld will receive a new island in a December update, apparently “the largest, harshest and most mysterious” yet, alongside what look like new Pals and Tower Bosses. The announcement adds that this new island will be “about six times bigger than Sakurajima”, a map previously added to the game in June.
As if that wasn’t enough, Pocketpair has also announced a surprise tie-up with the hugely popular Terraria. There’s no details on this yet beyond a collaboration image and “2025”, though both teams of developers can probably relate to being accused of copying other games. I jest of course. Amusingly enough Pocketpair CM Bucky used the announcement as an opportunity to have a pop at the “haters”:
“So many amazing comments from our fans and the Terraria community,” wrote Bucky. “Of course, the haters crawled out of the woodwork to regurgitate 10-month-old accusations.” This was followed by an emoji of a baby angel, as if butter wouldn’t melt.
Both games have distinct styles and, of course, one is 2D and one 3D, so I wouldn’t expect much more than a few guest characters and maybe a few half-inched mechanics: But who knows.
Palworld certainly doesn’t seem to have many haters outside of Nintendo. It’s now sitting at north of 10,000 Overwhelmingly Positive reviews on Steam, and has a 25% discount to boot. As one of the more recent examples muses, perhaps “Nintendo should take notes, not lawsuits.”