Palworld has changed one of its core mechanics amid its legal battle with Nintendo over alleged patent infringement.
As spotted by Eurogamer, a recent Palworld update removed the ability for players to summon their caught Pals with Pal spheres, items that, when thrown, summon the Pal within to the point of impact. One of the patents Nintendo claims Palworld has infringed upon is the ability to throw an object in a specific direction to capture a creature or summon a battle partner.
Now, when players summon a Pal in the game, their avatar holds a sphere out in front of them and a Pal is summoned next to them, rather than throwing the sphere and having the Pal appear there.
In the update notes, no reason is given for the change. NME has reached out to Pocket Pair for comment.
Palworld has long been called Pokemon with guns due to its inclusion of cute critters that you catch in balls and use to battle by your side. It differentiates itself with its base-building mechanics and more violent tone, but Nintendo still sued developer Pocket Pair for alleged copyright infringement after The Pokemon Company promised to “investigate” the game.
Pocket Pair responded to the lawsuit, writing it was “unaware” of what patents it had supposedly infringed upon and that it would be taking “appropriate legal proceedings”.
Its statement read: “It is truly unfortunate that we will be forced to allocate significant time to matters unrelated to game development due to this lawsuit. However, we will do our utmost for our fans, and to ensure that indie game developers are not hindered or discouraged from pursuing their creative ideas. We apologize to our fans and supporters for any worry or discomfort that this news has caused”.
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