The Pokemon Company warned on Thursday it plans to investigate reports that the new hit video game "Palworld" violates the intellectual copyright of its iconic franchise. Widely described as "Pokemon with Guns" when it was released last week, the makers of "Palworld" said it sold more than eight million copies in less than six days.
Nintendo Is Already Taking Down Palworld Pokemon Mods
23.01.2024 - 12:58 / thegamer.com / Ash Ketchum / James Lambert / Takuro Mizobe / Nintendo
Only three days after Palworld launched, which fans have been calling 'Pokemon with guns' since it was announced anyway, someone made a mod that turned the player into Ash Ketchum and Pals into 'mons. But less than a day later, it has already been taken down by Nintendo.
As reported by Games Radar, trying to access the mod page now takes you to an error that reads, "This mod is under moderation review." Videos on social media have also been taken down, such as YouTuber Toasted's which now displays the message, "This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner."
Fearing Nintendo's legal team, the Palworld modding community is already distancing itself from Pokemon mods such as these. In the dedicated Discord server, admin Archery 100 announced, "I' 'm sure many of you have been seeing all the content regarding the Pokemon mod for Palworld. While the memes and such are hilarious, the mod alone hosts a giant risk to the community and we need to take precautions so that Nintendo's lawyers don't nuke all of us with litigious actions. The mod is highly likely using ripped assets and is very illegal in Nintendo's eyes."
This server really grew overnight and we see a lot of potential with this community! That being said, we want to take the necessary steps to ensure we can nurture all this together.
Sharing links and files to mod is no longer allowed in the Discord serveer, and anyone breaking that rule has been threatened with "an immediate ban". This is because Discord DMs have been used in DMCA cases before, so to protect the server and those running it, they cannot risk hosting mods that Nintendo is taking action against.
It's not the first case this year of fan-made projects getting shut down in fear of Nintendo's legal team. Portal 64, a demake of the iconic puzzle game, was cancelled after Valve reached out to developer James Lambert expressing concern about the game using Libultra, the official Nintendo 64 SDK. "While I might not be a big enough target for Nintendo to come after, Valve is," Lambert said.
As for how Palworld itself is fairing, given how striking similarity its designs are to actual Pokemon, lead developer and Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe said that it had already cleared all legal reviews and no action had been taken against the game by Nintendo.
The website gametalkz.com is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.
Top Authors
Popular Topics
gamerant.com
25.01.2024 / 16:47
The Pokemon Company Issues Statement on Palworld Similarities
A week after the release of Palworld in early access, The Pokemon Company issued an official statement. There has been a lot of controversy regarding the similarities between Pokemon and Pocketpair’s survival game, as Palworld features various creatures that look just like The Pokemon Company's pocket monsters.
eurogamer.net
25.01.2024 / 11:51
Pokémon says it will "investigate and take appropriate measures" following claims Palworld copied designs
The Pokémon Company has issued a rare statement addressing the smash hit PC and Xbox game Palworld, after claims the latter has directly copied its designs.
engadget.com
25.01.2024 / 09:29
The Pokémon Company is investigating ‘Pokémon with guns’ satire Palworld
The Pokémon Company knows about Palworld and is very much aware that the game is drawing a lot of comparisons with its intellectual property, based on a statement it has published. While the company didn't explicitly name Palworld, it said it's going to investigate a game «released in January 2024» and will «take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to Pokémon.» It also clearly stated that it has «not granted any permission for the use of Pokémon intellectual property or assets in that game.»
techcrunch.com
25.01.2024 / 06:37
Pokemon Company says it intends to investigate Palworld
The Pokemon Company said Thursday it has not granted any permission to “another company,” referring to Palworld-developer Pocketpair, to use Pokemon intellectual property or assets and “intends to investigate and take appropriate measures” against the fast-growing survival game operator.
destructoid.com
25.01.2024 / 04:51
The Pokémon Company issues statement on ‘another company’s game’, a.k.a. Palworld
After plenty of online speculation around whether it would actually happen, The Pokémon Company has released a statement about “another company’s game” released in January 2024. And we can say what we’re all thinking: Palworld.
techradar.com
24.01.2024 / 14:31
Nexus Mods says hosting Pokémon-themed Palworld mods ‘is almost certainly going to put us at risk of legal action’
Popular modding siteNexus Mods, which allows users to share and download mods for thousands of games, has confirmed that it’s “not comfortable” with hosting Pokémon-themed mods for Palworld, Pocketpair’s early-access survival and crafting game.
gamesradar.com
23.01.2024 / 17:03
Palword’s viral Pokemon mod is on ice until the creator figures out how to release it and simultaneously “avoid a lawsuit”
The creator of a viral Palworld mod that brought Pokemon and company to the new hit survival game says they still want to release it – they just have to figure out how to avoid a Nintendo lawsuit first.
ign.com
23.01.2024 / 11:39
Modder Who Put Pokémon Into Palword Says 'Nintendo Has Come for Me'
The modder who put Pokémon into Palword has claimed “Nintendo has come for me” after a takedown of a tweet.
rockpapershotgun.com
22.01.2024 / 19:55
Surprise, surprise, someone’s already modded actual Pokémon into Palworld
If the accusations of Palworld peeking at Pokémon’s homework for its catchable monster designs weren’t already rife enough, a modder has decided to take the Garth Marenghi approach and remove any possible question by turning Palworld’s Pokémon-a-likes into just straight-up Pokémon.
gamerant.com
22.01.2024 / 19:40
Palworld Mod Adds Pokemon, Ash Ketchum
Pocket Pair’s Palworld is getting a Pokemon mod that introduces various characters from the popular Nintendo franchise into the game. Since the release of the first Palworld trailer back in 2021, the game has turned heads for having elements that bear a striking resemblance to Pokemon, from some of the Pals such as Lamball and Direhowl to even the device used to capture these creatures, Pal Spheres. These similarities have led gamers online to refer to the game as “Pokemon with guns.”
gamesradar.com
22.01.2024 / 17:53
It was inevitable: Palworld already has a Pokemon mod
It was inevitable, but someone has already modded Pokemon’s pocket pals into the new creature catcher on the block, Palworld.