It won't be too long until we get a firm confirmation in regards to the outcome of the Nintendo and The Pokémon Company (TPC) vs. Pocketpair legal battle, as the lawsuit which was filed back in 2024 is expected to conclude before the end of the year.
The suit was filed under the grounds that Pocketpair infringed upon Nintendo and TPC patents related to monster-catching gameplay used in Palworld, the hit game that attracted millions and millions of fans and was often regarded as 'Pokémon with guns'.
Gamesfray has been following this legal encounter for some time and now reports that it will soon be concluding as both parties are being asked to submit evidence before a court proceeding begins on October 1. The aim is for this to then lead to a verdict being shared on November 9.
As it stands, it's said that Nintendo and TPC are set to win very little from this legal endeavour, as the duo may simply come out of the battle with $30,000 in financial reparation. As for why this situation has developed, it's mentioned that Pocketpair made various changes to Palworld last year to eliminate areas that supposedly leave it in danger of infringing copyright, with Nintendo and TPC rebutting this move and amending their claim to refer to prior versions of Palworld and not the current and live edition of the game.
To this end, the report adds: "This litigation is no longer about anything serious in commercial terms. It's about a hypothetical injunction that doesn't apply to current product versions and (if anything) a small damages award for a period during which Pocketpair generated limited new sales in Japan."
Pocketpair also hasn't been all too worried about Nintendo and TPC's legal efforts as the 1.0 version of Palworld is almost here, with it set to launch on July 10.