Palworld was set to be on the exhibitors list at the Tokyo Games Show, but it seems that they have now been removed from the list entirely. This choice possibly comes after Nintendo issued a lawsuit, saying that Palworld was infringing on multiple of Nintendo’s patents. On the day that the lawsuit was issued, one of the developers tweeted out an emoji while they were at TGS (as stated in their name on X). Still, an official statement has been released on the Palworld social media and the Pocketpair website.
According to Pocketpair, they are unaware of what patents they are currently infringing on and are now beginning legal proceedings and investigations into Nintendo’s claims. In their statement, they claim, “We have not been notified of such details.”
Pocketpair is an indie game company based in Tokyo, and Palworld had a lot of hype before and after its release. The game has over 275,000 reviews on Steam, with a Very Positive review status on the title. Although most people assumed that the lawsuit would be copyright-related, with many of the Pals looking strikingly similar to the designs of Pokemon, their patents are causing the issue.
CESA released the exhibitors list from Tokyo Games Show 2024 on September 11, which was way before the lawsuit was publicly issued to Pocketpair. It was said that there was going to be a PS5 showcase of Palworld, but it was removed the same day it was announced. Pocketpair may still be showcasing Palworld regardless, and the list revealed by CESA was just incorrectly updated, or they were given the wrong details.
It’s likely that as a result of this lawsuit, either Pocketpair has made the conscious decision to remove themselves from the exhibitor list at TGS or the officials at TGS have removed them due to fear of unwanted attention or controversy by ‘supporting’ them. It’s possible that Pocketpair will make a statement as to why they have been removed from the exhibitor list, but for now, it remains unknown.
If it were true that it was just a factual error, it’s possible that their appearance or lack thereof at TGS has nothing to do with Nintendo’s lawsuit. They could be there as visitors and nothing more.
Products mentioned in this post
