The Pokémon Company Takes a Stand: Protecting Intellectual Property

After much online speculation, The Pokémon Company has released a statement regarding a “game from another company” released in January 2024. And we can say what everyone is thinking: Palworld.

While the company doesn’t directly mention Palworld or Pocketpair, it can be inferred that the statement is referring to them, unless Prince of Persia has a super-secret level I’m not aware of. However, the statement reveals that The Pokémon Company has received “many inquiries” about the game from another company released in January 2024, and TPC intends to “investigate and take appropriate actions” to address any intellectual property (IP) infringements related to Pokémon. “We will continue to nurture every Pokémon and its world and work towards unifying the world through Pokémon in the future,” concludes the company’s statement.

I am not your boss, colleague
After a long time of speculation whether The Pokémon Company will take notice and take any steps regarding the similarities between Pals from Palworld and their own pocket monsters, this declaration at least indicates that the company is paying attention.

I cannot speak about any legal aspects one way or another; I only write about video games. But I can’t help but imagine that certain efforts, like modifying Pokémon for Palworld, haven’t quite doused the fuse on this powder keg. We will now see if Pocketpair responds, even if they weren’t directly mentioned. In a recent interview with Automaton, Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe said, “We take our games very seriously and have no intention of infringing on the intellectual property rights of other companies.” Aside from that, all we can do is wait and see if TPC’s investigation leads to any actions being taken. I used to think I’d always remember the Microsoft/Activision Blizzard announcement as the most astonishing statement at the beginning of the year, but now the Monster War may give them a run for their money.

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The source of the article is from the blog motopaddock.nl