SUMMARY
- Palworld is a massive hit on all platforms it has released on.
- Nintendo's President has broken his silence on Palworld.
Although Palworld may have achieved great success even in its early access period, the game is not finding itself in the right spot when it comes to the controversies surrounding it. Highly criticized for being a plagiarised version of Nintendo’s Pokemon, the game has faced quite some trouble yet.
Released on January 19, 2024, Palworld recorded itself as the first hit of the year. It broke several records and even crushed charts. However, its delight was short-lived. Soon the long-coming terrors started arriving for the developers Pocketpair.
Nintendo President breaks silence on Palworld
Although the game’s similarity with Nintendo’s Pokemon had been a topic of discussion since day one, Nintendo had chosen to stay silent on the matter. However, after the game was released and had enjoyed its early days of success, Nintendo finally intervened by issuing a public statement.
Notably, they did not mention ‘Palworld’ directly, they stated that they were investigating “another company’s game released in January 2024” after receiving inquiries. Although they did not take any immediate action they said they were investigating the matter. However, post that there was no word from the devs.
“We will take appropriate action against those that infringe our intellectual property rights” – President of Nintendo, Shuntaro Furukawa, when questioned about Palworld. pic.twitter.com/DyLdDUubQ7
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) February 8, 2024
Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has finally shared his take on the ongoing Palworld controversy. It is the first time the top management has spoken on the issue that escalated to an extent wherein the Palworld developers were getting death threats from furious fans.
During a recent Q&A session following the company’s latest earnings call, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa was asked about the Palworld controversy. Just like the earlier statement, Shuntaro addressed the issue without naming the game.
The President said, “We will take appropriate action against those that infringe our intellectual property rights.” Although Nintendo has not taken any immediate action against Palworld, it has gradually stayed low and dealt with things surrounding it. For example, they took down a Pokemon mod that was being created for Palworld by sending a DMCA notice.
Palworld Issue might be complex for Nintendo
Palworld, also referred to as ‘Pokemon with Guns’ has been criticized for the heavy inspiration the game takes from Pokemon. It has creatures similar to Pokemon and features a similar creature-catching mechanism. Besides the environment is also similar to that of Nintendo’s IP.
However, it does differ in the fact that it is a first-person shooter survival game. Palworld has the Pals battling with guns and weapons, something that Pokemon did not have. Thus it is safe to say that Palworld is similar yet different from Pokemon.
As a result, the matter is a bit tricky for Nintendo as well. Especially considering the fact that the core premise or genre of the Palworld is in reality quite different from that of Pokemon, it seems like the ball is not entirely in Nintendo’s court.
Interestingly, The Pokemon Company’s former Chief Legal Officer, Don McGowan, called Palworld a “ripoff nonsense.” Don mentioned that they had witnessed several such instances of infringement in the past. However, experts are of the opinion that this time around it may not be as easy for Nintendo, since the difference in premise could give them a tough time in proving copyright infringement.