After nearly nine months of silence, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have formally sued Pocketpair, developer of the monster-capturing game Palworld, for numerous patent infringements

According to a statement released on September 19, Nintendo states that “the lawsuit seeks an injunction and damages against the defendants” and alleges that Palworld infringes several Pokémon patents

“We will continue to take necessary action against infringement of our intellectual property, including our brand, to protect the valuable intellectual property we have built up over the years,” the statement concluded

The lawsuit comes just a few months after Palworld's debut in January, when the early access launch generated 8 million in sales and post-release sales topped 5 million The game itself has been dubbed “Pokémon with Guns” due to its similarities to the best-selling video game franchises, particularly the Pocket Pair's “Pal” and Nintendo's “Pokémon”

Before the court battle began, Pocket Pair CEO Takuro Mizobe approached the similarity claim by stating that he had no intention of infringing on another company's intellectual property Nonetheless, Nintendo issued a statement on the matter, indicating that it intended to “investigate” any infringement of its rights regarding Pokémon While the statement did not directly name Pal World or Pocket Pair, it undoubtedly caused a measure of concern among game developers

Fans of the third best-selling game series of all time would have turned their heads at the first glance at Pal World's monster design But design is not the only thing Pal and his favorite Pokémon have in common

First, Pal World is a third-person, open-world survival game Players can explore a vast world and interact with its animal-like inhabitants, called Pals There are over 130 pals in total, each of which can be fought in battle, weakened, and eventually captured using the “Pal Sphere”

Once Pals are captured, they can be summoned to help in battle or stationed at the home base to help with crafting In addition, you can play with up to four other players and explore the world together

As of this writing, Pocket Pair has not yet responded to the lawsuit filing If the response changes, we will let you know