Palworld developer Pocketpair has responded to this morning’s dramatic decision by Nintendo to file a patent infringement lawsuit against the company.
In a statement issued via social media and the company’s website, Pocketpair said it received notice of the legal proceedings yesterday but was still “unaware of the specific patents we are accused of infringing upon”.
Pocketpair said it would battle the lawsuit on behalf of Palworld’s fans, but also framed the fight as a matchup between “a small indie game company” that wanted “to ensure that indie game developers are not hindered or discouraged from pursusing their creative ideas”.
The developer described the situation as “truly unfortunate” – as it would now have to divert resources to fighting the lawsuit – and apologised to supporters for “any worry and discomfort this news has caused”.
Pocketpair’s statement is below in full:
“Yesterday, a lawsuit was filed against our company for patent infringement.
“We have received notice of this lawsuit and will begin the appropriate legal proceedings and investigations into the claims of patent infringement.
“At this moment, we are unaware of the specific patents we are accused of infringing upon, and we have not been notified of such details.
“Pocketpair is a small indie game company based in Tokyo. Our goal as a company has always been to create fun games. We will continue to pursue this goal because we know that our games bring joy to millions of gamers around the world. Palworld was a surprise success this year, both for gamers and for us. We were blown away by the amazing response to the game and have been working hard to make it even better for our fans. We will continue improving Palworld and strive to create a game that our fans can be proud of.
“It is truly unfortunate that we will be forced to allocate significant time to matters unrelated to game development due to this lawsuit. However, we will do our utmost for our fans, and to ensure that indie game developers are not hindered or discouraged from pursuing their creative ideas.
“We apologise to our fans and supporters for any worry or discomfort that this news has caused.
“As always, thank you for your continued support of Palworld and Pocketpair.”
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company announced their legal action in the early hours of this morning, via a short statement that revealed the companies were seeking “an injunction against infringement and compensation for damages”.
Palworld launched in January and was played by 25 million people during its first month on PC and Xbox. Today’s news comes ahead of a widely-expected PS5 version of the game being announced.