The legal battle between Nintendo, The Pokémon Company, and Palworld developer Pocketpair has been running since late 2024.
Nintendo’s lawsuit claims Palworld copies key Pokémon gameplay elements, especially weakening creatures, catching them in ball-like items, and later riding them as mounts.
Nintendo argues these aren’t just general gameplay features, but patented systems integral to their own games.
Even as Pocketpair challenges the claims, the studio has made several changes to Palworld to maintain its operation.
The “Pal Sphere” was redesigned to distance itself from Poké Balls, and the ability to glide using Pals was replaced with a standard glider tool.
These changes started appearing in patches from November 2024, though the court has yet to rule on whether they’re enough to satisfy the legal complaints.
What Exactly Is Palland and Where Did It Come From?
While Palworld is nowhere to be found on the Nintendo eShop, Palland made its debut on the storefront in July 2025.
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Developed by BoggySoft and sold at a budget price, Palland presents itself as a base-building, survival, and exploration game.
In its promotional blurbs, the game describes a realm of crafting, building, and monster combat, with a lead hero and visual flair many find almost identical to Palworld.
Gameplay footage online shows a protagonist that looks almost identical, with environments resembling the open fields and creature encounters from Pocketpair’s game.
However, the animations are rough, the worlds sparsely detailed, and the overall polish falls well below the standard set by the game it resembles.
Why Hasn’t Nintendo Taken Action Against Palland?
Despite its obvious similarities, Palland steers clear of the exact features that Nintendo targeted in its case against Pocketpair.
There’s no mechanic involving weakening creatures before capture, no ball-throwing system, and no mount-riding.
Without those patent-specific elements, Nintendo has little legal ground to take the same action against BoggySoft.
The game made a far smaller impact commercially, with its launch price of $10 quickly reduced—hinting at weak sales and low visibility next to Palworld’s tens of millions in sales.
The launch of Palland on the Switch, while Palworld remains blocked, has drawn strong criticism.
Many players see it as blatant hypocrisy as the platform refuses the original game but approves a clumsy knockoff that borrows heavily from its look and concept.
Nintendo’s actions here clash with its stated mission to protect IP, giving the impression that the company’s problem with Palworld is driven more by its success and non-Nintendo status than by patent law.
How Is This Connected to the Flood of Low-Effort Clones?
The Palland dispute taps into a broader problem in gaming: the flood of lazy copycats and asset-flip titles crowding digital shelves.
Whether on the Switch eShop, PlayStation Store, or other platforms, opportunistic developers frequently churn out simplified imitations of trending PC hits.
Indie teams can spend ages trying to have these removed, but major publishers act almost immediately when it involves their own titles.
These actions make the double standard look obvious, coming down hard on Nintendo’s case while looking the other way with obvious knock-offs.
For the time being, Palland sits unbothered on the Nintendo eShop, and Palworld is stuck in legal suspension.
Pocketpair hasn’t made any public moves against BoggySoft, instead putting its energy into polishing Palworld and handling the legal fight.
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