The lawsuit’s focus surprised many. Pocketpair communications director and publishing manager John Buckley said earlier this year that patent infringement wasn’t something they anticipated during the pre-release legal checks for Palworld. Read more.
Buckley noted that Pocketpair performed legal reviews in Japan prior to release and were surprised when the lawsuit was announced.
It isn’t clear whether Okamoto believes Pocketpair will ultimately be forced to settle with Nintendo by conceding or paying damages.
So far, Pocketpair has made some minor adjustments to Palworld to avoid particular elements — moves described by a Japanese patent attorney as precautionary rather than admissions of infringement. The studio maintains the game does not infringe Nintendo’s patents and has argued that some of those patents should be declared invalid.
Legal and IP specialists have also raised questions about several patents connected to the case. One widely criticized patent related to combat mechanics prompted IP expert and industry commentator Florian Mueller to say the patent appeared to have been granted without an examiner reviewing existing games.
Part of the backlash against Okamoto escalated after a partly self-censored remark was interpreted by many as labeling Pocketpair an “anti-social force” or likening it to entities operating in a legally gray area, according to IGN.
Other commenters pointed out that some of the games Okamoto worked on — and many titles across the industry — have drawn on ideas from earlier projects. Creative work often builds on what came before, which complicates where one draws the line; in Okamoto’s case that line seems to be defined by the fact a lawsuit exists against this particular title.
In a twist of timing, The Pokemon Company and Pocketpair each announced new creature-collector life sims within about two weeks of one another — projects that had evidently been in development for some time. Buckley also pushed back at suggestions Palworld: Palfarm was hastily assembled by “wizard-level developers able to make a game in 1 week” following the reveal of Pokemon: Pokopia.
Palworld 1.0 is slated for release “next year” with “a truly massive amount of content planned” despite Nintendo’s ongoing lawsuit — and Pocketpair is “also working on some other things.”
Source: gamesradar.com
