After Nintendo filed a copyright lawsuit against Palworld and its developer Pocketpair, modders are now adding back the removed features themselves.
The legal dispute between Nintendo and Pocketpair continues. However, this does not stop modders from simply undoing past updates.
Just Another Pokémon Clone?
Right from the start, the question arose whether Palworld wasn't a little too similar to Pokémon. Little monsters that fight for you, with Pokéball-like spheres used to collect creatures and riding on your own little animals. We have already reported that Palworld has already had to remove some features because of this. This lawsuit is based on patents that Nintendo added to “parent patents” after Palworld was released.
It was only last December that the Pokéball clones had to be removed due to Nintendo's lawsuit. Now it was the glider function's turn. But players don't like that at all.
Modders Don't Care About Nintendo
And although Nintendo gets their way with enforcing patents, there are some players who don't want to be deprived of the fun in their favorite game. And so user Primarinabee has released a mod that adds back the function of gliding on your own creatures. In a previous patch, Pocketpair removed this function and replaced it with gliders. The patch notes said:
As of Version 0.5.5, Gliding can now only be done when using a Glider. Pals who previously could be used as gliders will now have their Partner Skill changed, providing a new gliding effect instead.
And although Primarinabee's "Glider Restoration Mod" still requires the glider in the inventory, it is very similar to the function from before the patch.
If you are interested in this mod, you can find the link here.
Modders Preserve Games
As already described in one of our articles, the modding community is often essential for maintaining individual games. There are already some useful and funny mods in Palworld, such as Pal Analyzer, which gives you lots of information about wild creatures by simply moving the cursor over them. As you progress through the game, you will unlock new information so that you can keep discovering new things.
There are also many mods that make building structures more free or improve the graphics. Palworld shows once again that an active modding community can add so much fun to games and that these games can develop for ages, even after official support ended.
What do you think of Palworld? Do you think the game deserves the media attention or is it just another Pokémon clone?