Palworld comes to PS5 today as Nintendo legal battle looms

YouTube

Palworld, the Pokémon-like survival game that blew up on PC earlier this year, is now out on PlayStation 5. The announcement came during Sony's State of Play livestream.

The PS5 launch is cool for console players who want to get in on a 2024 phenomenon, but comes at an uncomfortable time for Pocketpair: After months of speculation over whether Nintendo would go after Palworld over its similarities to Pokémon, it finally happened. Earlier this month, Nintendo announced that it's suing the studio for patent infringement.

We did some digging, and it looks likely that one of the patents in question has to do with the throwing of Poké Balls. Nintendo's team of super-lawyers are pretty good at logging wins, too, so it'll be a tough fight for the indie newcomer.

"It is truly unfortunate that we will be forced to allocate significant time to matters unrelated to game development due to this lawsuit," Pocketpair said after the lawsuit was filed. "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."

TOPICS

Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.