In an interesting twist that has the gaming community talking, evidence has emerged that Pocketpair demonstrated a gliding mount feature in Palworld six months before Nintendo filed a patent for a similar mechanic. In June 2021, Pocketpair streamed gameplay showing characters using creature companions called “gliding Pals” to get around the game world—well before Nintendo’s December 2021 patent application.
The patent at the center of this dispute isn’t about creature designs or Palworld‘s Pal characters looking like Pokémon. Instead, it specifically covers a system for automatically choosing the most fitting rideable creature based on terrain or player actions when a single input is made. Basically, it’s a quality-of-life feature that switches between land, sea, or air mounts depending on what the player needs.
This timing has become crucial in 2024 as Nintendo goes after Pocketpair, claiming the smaller studio infringed on patents related to mount selection mechanics. These same mechanics show up in Nintendo titles like Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Facing this pressure, Pocketpair reportedly removed the gliding Pal feature from Palworld, especially the seamless contextual mount selection system.
This situation is especially interesting because Pocketpair had rolled out similar mount mechanics in their earlier game Craftopia, which could give more evidence of prior art. Other games like Ark: Survival Evolved, World of Warcraft, and even Assassin’s Creed have included similar ideas over the years.
The clash highlights ongoing tensions between patent law and game development creativity. Patent laws in Japan and the US often allow broad protection for software and mechanics, which critics say can limit creativity across the industry. Legal experts point out that “prior art”—proof that a feature existed publicly before a patent was filed—can shoot down patent claims.
Nintendo has a long history of fiercely protecting its intellectual property through legal means. For smaller developers like Pocketpair, fighting these kinds of battles can be crazy expensive and take up a ton of time, no matter how strong their case is.
The result of this fight could mean a lot for game studios everywhere. If Nintendo’s patent holds up even with evidence of prior art, it might encourage other big companies to claim and defend patents on basic gameplay ideas. Some developers already mention Warner Bros’ controversial patent on the Nemesis system as proof of how these moves can put a lid on fresh ideas.
