Nintendo reportedly has “zero chance” against current Palworld after major lawsuit change

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Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are now focusing their lawsuit against Palworld on earlier versions of the game. This change suggests the current version and the planned 1.0 update may not be impacted by the legal action.

Nintendo first sued Pocketpair in September 2024, claiming the game Palworld violated several of their patents. They requested both a stop to sales of the game and financial compensation, as Palworld had quickly become very popular after being released in Early Access.

Recent court documents from Tokyo District Court indicate that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company narrowed the focus of their lawsuit against Palworld in November 2025. Instead of targeting all versions of the game, they are now only pursuing claims related to earlier releases.

Palworld updates may have reduced Nintendo’s case

It seems this change happened because of updates Pocketpair made after a lawsuit was filed against them. In November 2024, an update (version v0.3.11) to Palworld changed how you get Pals. Instead of summoning Pals by throwing Pal Spheres, they now just appear next to you.

Pocketpair admitted the alteration stemmed from the current lawsuit, but they continue to assert that Palworld doesn’t violate Nintendo’s patents and believe those patents aren’t legally sound.

The developer explained that these adjustments were necessary to ensure continued progress and delivery of the game without any delays or issues.

Version 0.5.5 included an update to gliding: players now need to use a glider item instead of gliding directly on their Pal. This change seems to have addressed concerns related to the legal issues and helped protect the game’s newer versions.

According to a report by Games Fray, Nintendo is unlikely to win its case against the current version of Palworld. The report suggests any legal injunction would only apply to earlier versions of the game. Even if Nintendo wins on its remaining claims, the maximum financial damages are estimated to be around $30,000 (5 million yen).

Any ruling that doesn’t stop the game immediately would be less impactful, particularly since Palworld is scheduled to officially launch its full version 1.0 on July 10, 2026. Pocketpair revealed this launch at Summer Game Fest, describing it as the final, complete version of the game after several years of improvements and updates.

The legal process is continuing. According to Automaton, a technical discussion is planned for October 1st, and the court will share its initial thoughts on November 9th.

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2026-06-12 17:19