Pokémon Never Followed Up on Palworld’s Legal Threat, Developer Reveals

Monster Hit Palworld has yet to receive a formal legal threat from Nintendo or The Pokémon Company, the game’s developer has confirmed, despite continued close comparisons between its creature designs.

The breakout success of Palworld earlier this year – and its obvious similarities to Pokémon – prompted a rare public statement from The Pokémon Company, which pledged to “investigate and take appropriate action to respond to any acts that violate the intellectual property rights related to Pokémon. “.

But, speaking to GameFile, Palworld creator Takuro Mizobe said that this threat was never acted upon behind the scenes.

“(We heard) nothing at all,” Mizobe said. “Nintendo and Pokémon Company haven’t told us anything.”

In the same interview, Mizobe explained how his career as a game developer began through a year-long training program supported by Nintendo. As a student of the program, Mizobe eventually helped launch a free downloadable game for the Nintendo DSi (a simple shooter named The Tentai Show released only in Japan; it tasked players with defending Earth from meteoroids imminent).

“I always think: creating new things is very difficult,” Mizobe said when asked what he learned working with Nintendo.

“In game development, of course, sometimes we have to do that, but as much as possible I try to avoid creating new things.”

Next up for Mizobe is continued work on Palworld, which this week will include a new island to explore and a PVP arena, as well as the continued addition of more “Pals.” A PlayStation 5 version of Palworld has also been announced.

Former Pokémon Company general counsel Don McGowan, who worked at the company for 12 years, said earlier this year that he was “surprised” that Palworld had “come this far.”