Monster hit Palworld is yet to receive any formal legal threat from Nintendo or The Pokémon Company, the game’s developer has confirmed, despite continuing close comparisons between its creature designs.
Palworld’s breakout success at the beginning of this year – and its obvious similarities to Pokémon – prompted a rare public statement from The Pokémon Company, which pledged to “investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon”.
But, speaking to GameFile, Palworld creator Takuro Mizobe said that threat was never followed up behind the scenes.
“[We heard] nothing at all,” Mizobe said. “Nintendo and the Pokémon Company didn’t say anything to us.”
In the same interview, Mizobe discussed how his career as a game developer got started via a year-long training programme backed by Nintendo. As a student in the programme, Mizobe ultimately helped launch a free downloadable game for the Nintendo DSi (a simple shooter named The Tentai Show launched only in Japan, it tasked players with defending Earth from impending meteoroids).
“I always think: To make new things is very hard,” Mizobe said when asked what he’d learned from working with Nintendo.
“In game development, of course, sometimes we have to do it, but, as much as possible, I try to avoid creating new things.”
Next up for Mizobe is continuing work on Palworld, which will this week get a new island to explore and a PVP arena, and the ongoing addition of more “Pals”. A PlayStation 5 version of Palworld has also been teased as on the way.
The Pokémon Company’s former chief legal officer Don McGowan, who worked at the company for 12 years, said earlier this year that he was “surprised” Palworld had “got this far”.