When Nintendo confirmed it would be suing Pocketpair, the studio behind last year's massive hit Palworld, many saw this as an inevitable outcome considering how litigious Nintendo is on a good day.
While the suit is still ongoing, and Pocketpair has already been forced to make changes to Palworld based on the patents Nintendo is claiming Pocketpair is infringing on, a new report from Gamefrays (spotted by Windows Central) seems to show that Nintendo is doing everything and anything to make its suit against Pocketpair stick, even going so far as to change the patents it claims Pocketpair is infringing on, mid-suit.
Gamefrays does stipulate that changing a patent in the middle of an infringement suit isn't entirely unheard of, though it's usually done when the patent owner is concerned that its original patent will be found to have been invalid in the first place. It also doesn't necessarily mean that Nintendo is on the back foot or that it'll lose the case. Though, Gamefrays does point out that Nintendo's new language for the patent is awkward at best, which makes the change all the more weird.
Gamefrays calls out Nintendo's use of the phrases "even when" and "even if," neither of which is common when writing patents, nor are they clear to define in patent law. According to its report, Gamefrays calls the use of the word "even" and Nintendo's changes to the patents a "Hail Mary" move to try and secure a win for its suit in Japan.
Another unfortunate update on the lawsuit for Nintendo, is that it doesn't seem like it'll be able to bring a suit against Pocketpair in the US. The changes Pocketpair has already made, and the evidence Pocketpair is presenting around games with similar mechanics to Palworld that Nintendo has not gone after, all seem to be the immovable objects blocking Nintendo's path to suing Pocketpair in the US. Not that it won't keep trying, of course.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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