I think the "general consensus" is actually split pretty much down the middle, here. I've seen a lot of people defend the Palworld developers, and a lot of people saying "It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy".
Jean-Karlo evaluates Nintendo's decision to file suit against Pal World developer Pocketpair, has some advice for fighting game fans, plus more game news than you can shake a joystick at!
www.animenewsnetwork.com
There's a lot of cherry picking going on, as far as opinions go.
The thing is, I'm pretty sure we still don't know what patents Nintendo are actually suing over yet. Or the context for those patents. So, all the reactions we've been getting have been half-informed, at best. Maybe this is just patent bullying. Or maybe Palworld really did infringe on something kind of egregious. We still don't know what the lawsuit is actually about yet.
And, if it makes anyone feel any better...chances are we never actually get a verdict in this case. The most probable outcome is that this gets settled out of court, with no firm verdict or precedent being set. As big as PocketPair like to talk about "fighting for the indies", I very much doubt that a company that makes copycat games wants to spend the money it would take in order to deal with a protracted years-long legal battle over a game that still isn't out of Early Access. So, chances are there WON'T be any large, industry-effecting consequences to this. Because Nintendo's patents probably won't get a chance to either be upheld or denied. This will most likely be settled out of court within a year.
Personally, my take is still...yeah, if this patent is JUST about throwing a sphere-like object to catch a monster, it's not the best look for Nintendo. And if this actually went to court, I think Nintendo's patent would get thrown out because it's too broad, again IF it's about using a ball to catch monsters. The PalSpheres don't even look like Pokeballs. But, on the other hand, this is kind of like convicting Al Capone on tax evasion. It's not the crime we WANT them to get punished for, it's not the crime they SHOULD be punished for, but maybe it's the crime that can actually stick. PocketPair was up to some shady practices and they got noticed because of it. I definitely think there's ground for some sort of lawsuit, although I'm not sure if I agree with the specifics of this one or not.
But, I think it's telling that Nintendo never went after games like Nexomon, or Coromon, or Cassette Beasts, or Yo-Kai Watch, or Monster Rancher, or Dragon Quest Monsters, or Digimon. Sure, none of those got AS popular as Palworld was at it's height, at least in the west. But, also, they didn't copy things as blatantly as Palworld did, either. Nintendo seems to feel like Palworld is doing something those other games, all on Switch, aren't. So, I'm willing to say Palworld just went a *little* too far trying to copy Pokemon for it's own good.
So, I'm still leaning towards Nintendo's side on this case. I might be in the wrong, but until we actually learn the specifics on what the patents they're suing over entail, I'm willing to say they've probably got a better case than not. But, again, that's coming from someone who's pretty ignorant of what any of the specifics actually are.
www.pcgamer.com
