As a seasoned gamer who has witnessed countless legal battles between giants of the gaming industry, I can’t help but feel a sense of deja vu with this latest development between Nintendo and Palworld developer Pocketpair. The strategy Nintendo seems to be employing here – patent infringement instead of copyright infringement – is reminiscent of tactics used in the past, as noted by Serkan Toto, a respected analyst in the field.
Since Palworld’s launch earlier this year, it appeared likely that Nintendo would eventually take action against the game due to its resemblance to Pokemon. In fact, The Pokemon Company declared their intention to examine Palworld as early as January. This week, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company chose to sue Pocketpair, the developers of Palworld, for patent violation rather than copyright infringement. As one expert suggests, this legal approach has proven effective for Nintendo in dealing with competitors in the past.
In an interview with 404 Media, Kantan Games CEO and video game analyst Serkan Toto pointed out that in 2018, Nintendo employed similar patent infringement strategies against a Japanese mobile game developer named Colopl. This dispute ended up resulting in a $30 million settlement for Nintendo. As a result, Colopl is now required to pay licensing fees to Nintendo to utilize certain patents. Toto hypothesizes that Pocketpair might also be compelled to negotiate a similar agreement with Nintendo in the future.
Toto believes the profit margin for Palworld is likely extremely high, and he suggests that this didn’t sit well with Nintendo, who might have felt that Palworld was copying their character designs. He implies that there isn’t much they can do about it right now, but they may retaliate in other ways, possibly by using complex, technical patents. However, the specific patents Nintendo is referring to are not yet disclosed, so we don’t know which ones are at issue. Toto predicts that these patents will be highly technical in nature.
Toto believes that Palworld won’t be closed due to any future agreement, but he thinks that Nintendo’s lawsuit was essentially a form of retribution against Pocketpair for the popularity of their game resembling Pokemon.
As a gamer myself, I’d rephrase Toto’s statement like this: “I believe Nintendo has noticed Pocketpair’s aggressive tactics,” Toto said. “Nintendo suspects Pocketpair is mimicking their strategies, and before they launch the PlayStation version or carry out their IP expansion plans, Nintendo seems ready to throw a wrench in their works. I don’t think Nintendo views this situation through rose-tinted glasses at all. This is just raw, ruthless business.
Recently, Pocketpair has made clear that they won’t transition Palworld into a free-to-play or live-service format. As previously hinted by Toto, it’s expected that Pocketpair will soon unveil plans for Palworld on PlayStation 5. Already, Sony and Pocketpair have collaborated on a merchandise line aimed at expanding the Palworld franchise beyond just games.
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2024-09-20 19:39