Nintendo's lawsuit alleging patent infringement in Palworld was unexpected given the timing and subject matter, and nobody was more surprised than developer Pocketpair, who says "no one even considered" patent issues after the game cleared legal checks in Japan pre-release.
Speaking at a Game Developer's Conference panel focusing on the hit survival game's explosive launch, post-launch troubles, and community strategy, Pocketpair communications director and publishing manager John 'Bucky' Buckley discussed the hardships the team has faced before and after release. The game was falsely accused of AI-generating creature designs or outright ripping models from Pokemon games, countless threats of violence were sent to the devs, and Nintendo filed a formal lawsuit against the company.
