There’s been another development involving Nintendo and The Pokemon Company’s lawsuit against Palworld. When all is said and done, the legal battle will only involve the current version of the game.
It’s now been discovered that Nintendo and The Pokemon Company amended the scope of their claims. Originally, they were going after all versions of Palworld. However, things have changed since. The case is now limited to older versions of the title, before Pocketpair made changes to eliminate patent exposure.
Games Fray, which has been reporting on the legal battle, says it “cannot see any pathway to victory over any current or very recent Palworld version (nor Palworld 1.0, which should launch soon) for Nintendo.” The outlet anticipates that there an injunction is unlikely, which is something that was originally being pursued. Making matters worse for Nintendo, if its case against Palworld is successful, the company only stands to earn 5 million yen, or roughly $30,000.
So what’s next? Presentation of evidence will take place on October 1, 2026. That will be followed by the court expressing an opinion on November 9.
Contrary to initial assumptions, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company weren’t going after Palworld for its character designs. Instead, the issue has been about gameplay, including throwing a ball-like object in a virtual space and riding on creatures.
Even after the lawsuit is over, it’s possible that Palworld could end up on Nintendo Switch 2. Pocketpair has previously spoken about that possibility.
Nintendo recently took a loss on a related patent. Last month, the company was denied a patent for Poke Ball-style capture-and-release mechanics on touchscreen devices.