Palworld just got a patch that alters and/or removes certain mechanics from the game, following changes that developer and publisher Pocketpair were forced to make to the game as a result of their ongoing lawsuit with The Pokémon Company and Nintendo.
As revealed in a Tweet by Pocketpair at the end of last week (per Eurogamer), certain changes were introduced in Palworld’s v0.5.5 update that are a direct result of their ongoing lawsuit with Nintendo.
“We apologize for not being able to share as much information as we would like, but we trust our fans understand how difficult it is to be fully transparent while litigation is ongoing,” reads Pocketpair’s official statement.
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“Furthermore, we regret to inform our players that with the implementation of Patch v0.5.5, we must make yet another compromise. From this patch onward, gliding will be performed using a glider rather than with Pals. Pals in the player's team will still provide passive buffs to gliding, but players will now need to have a glider in their inventory in order to glide.”
This follows another change made back in November last year with Patch v0.3.11, which removed the ability to use Pal Spheres to summon Pals and instead replaced the mechanic with a static summon that merely teleports Pals directly next to the player.
It seems the glider change might not be the last mechanic Pocketpair will be forced to change either, as their official statement revealed that they “remain involved in prolonged legal proceedings regarding alleged patent infringement.”
As many have already figured out, it seems the glider mechanic that Pocketpair has been forced to change stems from a patent registered for Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
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I don’t think I’m going to say anything that everyone else hasn’t already said at this point but… goddamn this whole thing is ridiculous.
There is absolutely no way that a gliding mechanic is something that either Nintendo or The Pokémon Company should be able to patent. How many other games let you fly atop some kind of bird or monster? Are they gonna come after World of Warcraft next?
I absolutely do not understand how anyone can be on Nintendo’s side at this point. They’re just throwing money around and bullying a developer worth 0.1% of their networth to make an example of them.