As the legal battle between Nintendo and Palworld developer Pocketpair continues, the game itself has received an update that seemingly sidesteps a patent related to Pokémon.
As of patch 0.3.11, survival action game Palworld has adjusted the way creatures are summoned in battles.
Before the patch, you could throw a Pal Sphere wherever you wanted on the battlefield and your Pal would spawn at that spot. This bore some similarity to how Pokémon are summoned from their Pokéballs.
With the latest update installed, instead of throwing the Pal Sphere, your Pal will now spawn immediately right next to the player character.
It's supposed by the game's fans that this change has been implemented in order that Palworld can avoid infringing on one of Nintendo's patents relating to its monster-collecting RPG series.
This isn't the only update coming to the game as the lawsuit carries on in the background. A major update that adds a large new island to explore is coming sometime this month.
Are you enjoying Palworld on PS5? Tell us in the comments section below.
[source gamesradar.com]
Comments 14
If the balls are a problem, simply remove the balls. Easy!
They neutered the game in a bit of a literal sense.
@springer17 words to live by…or, I fear, die by.
So they got rid off the balls in the game AND the ones in their pants?
Could've just replaced a ball with something else like temtem
@springer17 They should've made it a square or pyramid just to prod them. "That good enough for you overly litigious twits?" 😂 although completely removing them is kinda like "Now what?" I can't stand the way Nintendo acts.
I remember when Pokèmon launched because I've been playing them since then. Over the years the bigger they became the more arrogant they became, too big for their boots and complacent. Now I know they'll very likely win the Lawsuit but I hope in the long run it really hurts them and the Pokèmon Company which in turn forces them to make much better games instead of the mediocre garbage we've been getting for years.
It's a shame it took a Playthrough of this game to make me realise just how bad and how stagnated Pokèmon has become but it is what it is.
@Vega37 others have gotten away with doing that exact thing. Temtem has cards, Coromon has spinning discs, Nexomon has 'nexotraps' (which are even red & white ffs) so it's not unheard of.
I think it's a temporary change until they make a different type of catching mechanic.
Or change the sphere into a square or net.
Also, f Nintendo, they're gonna patent wall climbing next I'm sure of it 😒
I wouldn't mind but Nintendo didn't even invent the ball throw capture, Megami Tensei series did it before them. It's like Nintendo basically know Palworld was going to be a threat so waited to see first before it launched. It sold loads and they came up with some BS to try and stop it.
The patent basically is well someone did it before us but they haven't patented it so we will
@springer17 Not that easy. They already profited from it.
All they did is prevent paying further damages.
"This bore some similarity to how Pokémon are summoned from their Pokéballs."
Just 'some similarity,' aye?
You know, I think if it were just a ball throwing mechanic — and a few other borrowed ideas — Nintendo would've have minded much at all. Just look at all the other clearly Poke-inspired games that freely existed. And I don't want to imply that this isn't Nintendo patent trolling, because it is.
But Palworld has been closely associated with Pokemon since its reveal. I learned about it as 'Pokemon with guns,' and I'm sure many would attest the same. And the most adamant Pal-fenders typically claim Palworld is either the Pokemon game they always wanted or made them realize how boring Pokemon is (ignoring that they should've played Ark years ago of they felt that way).
It's absolutely undeniable that it infringes upon the popularity of Pokemon. And while there's nothing wrong with that, it's easy to see why Nintendo would see this shameless clone (of Ark's gameplay and Pokemon's aesthetics), see the fanbase praise it at Pokemon's expense, and look at ways to, at least, distance it more from their golden goose.
Or maybe Nintendo is egregiously ethnocentric. That's always possible with Japanese companies.
@Nem If anything it could be potentially worse, if its all down the the storage and summon mechanic then changing it now to prevent further damages is essentially an admission of guilt on their part.
@Nem I know, it was really just a testicle joke
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