After The Pokemon Company revealed it would "investigate" games like Palworld for copyright infringement, the survival game's fans are confident it won't amount to much.
On January 25, The Pokemon Company broke its silence over Palworld - telling concerned fans in a statement that it intends to "investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights." Although the survival game bears a resemblance to Pokemon, many Palworld fans have remained unfazed by the news - confident that Nintendo will struggle to find a leg to stand on.
In a Reddit post sharing the statement, many fans have shared their thoughts on the situation. "All this statement says is that Nintendo is looking into whether their IP has been infringed, and if so, they will take action," one user rationally explained. "That is literally what every company with copyrighted IP does, it's why copyright laws exist in the first place," the comment continues.
Other fans have pointed out that it's unlikely that Nintendo / The Pokemon Company wasn't well aware of the 'Pokemon with guns' game when it was first unveiled a couple of years ago. Instead, Reddit users think that it's more likely that this statement was spurred on following the news of a Palworld Pokemon mod which is currently on ice until the creator figures out how to release it and simultaneously "avoid a lawsuit."
"It's PR speak to get people to stop reporting the game to them. I doubt [The Pokemon Company] hasn't already looked at it and gone yeah, it's fine," one user has theorized. "I think this is a 'we keep getting harassed about this so here' kind of statement," another adds.
There's definitely something to the idea that The Pokemon Company is trying to head off the conversation about Palworld while it determines if there are any steps to take. While it's not surprising that fans of Palworld would look to defend their game (just as it's not surprising that Palworld's lead has already shot down legal concerns following the Pokemon comparisons), questions do remain about the similarities between Pals and Pokemon. The oft-repeated idea that 'you can't trademark a sheep' isn't necessarily helpful, Palworld does seem to have made efforts to distance itself (just enough) from anything that Pokemon could have copyrighted.
The Pokemon Company will also want to ask itself whether now is the time to take action. The suggestion that it wasn't aware of Palworld's existence is an unlikely one, and given the game's success, a complex and high-profile legal battle may be a battle The Pokemon Company doesn't really want to fight. Likewise, though the Nintendo mothership is famously litigious, the fact that it and the Pokemon Company haven't made any sort of legal challenge after years of Palworld marketing, which was never shy about its inspirations, yet instantly struck down Pokemon mods for the game, which do very clearly infringe upon copyright, suggests it wouldn't have an ironclad case right now.
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