Pokemon and Nintendo Sue Palworld Developers
Nintendo and The Pokemon Company are taking legal action against the makers of the popular game Palworld.
Pocketpair, the Tokyo-based company that makes Palworld, said it is being sued for alleged patent infringement.
However, when the company announced that legal action had been taken, it said it didn't know exactly which patents had been infringed.
Palworld has been compared to Pokemon, with some calling it "Pokemon with guns" even before it was released.
Since its release this January, the game has been a big hit, with more than 25 million people playing it in its first month.
At first glance, there do seem to be some visual similarities between the games. And, like in the Pokemon games, Palworld players, known as "pal-tamers," have to move around collecting creatures — called "pals" — that have different abilities.
But while Pokemon creatures attack using special powers like ice or lightning, Palworld creatures attack using weapons.
And entertainment website Screen Rant said the games are not as similar as they might at first appear.
The site said Palworld has "a depth" that's missing from most Pokemon games, and it has "many additional features, like crafting and survival."
The Pokemon Company said it is looking for an injunction against Pocketpair, and for compensation.
It was reported in September that Pokemon had won at least $15 million in compensation from a number of Chinese companies that had used Pokemon characters in games without permission.
Pocketpair, which was not a very well-known games developer until Palworld was released, said it was a shame that it would have to spend time and money defending itself, instead of on the game.
It apologized to fans for any worry the legal action may have caused.
Pocketpair said earlier this year that Palworld had passed legal checks before it came out.
The company added that it would do everything it could to make sure that independent game developers are not "discouraged from pursuing their creative ideas."
