Pocketpair, the company behind Palworld, are currently being sued by Nintendo for copyright infringement. It was for this reason that many thought the company would never release Palworld in Japan on PS5. But, perhaps in a show of confidence, they've gone ahead and done just that.
Palworld, colloquially known as "Pokémon with guns", was shadow-dropped on PS5 in September, but not in Japan. It seemed clear that the game's makers, Pocketpair, were concerned about releasing the game on the Japanese market, where they were being sued by Nintendo.
Nintendo's lawsuit over copyright infringement is still ongoing, but despite this, Pocketpair have chosen to release the PS5 version of Palworld in Japan. We're happy for Japanese gamers, but this feels very bold from Pocketpair to say the least.
Experts believe Nintendo will win its patent lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair, especially due to a "killer patent" related to the mechanic of catching creatures, a core feature of Pokémon games.
Japanese patent attorney Kiyoshi Kurihara highlighted that this patent is difficult to avoid when creating Pokémon-like games and can be easily infringed upon if developers aren’t cautious. This specific patent gives Nintendo a strong legal advantage, and we're yet to hear a great defense from Pocketpair.
Ultimately, this is a win for gamers, but download it while you can if you're in Japan, because this definitely isn't the last we'll hear from the lawsuit.