Krafton Partners With Pocketpair to Develop Mobile Version of Palworld Amid Nintendo Lawsuit

Palworld launched in early access on PC and Xbox in January.

Written by Manas Mitul | Updated: 3 October 2024 13:22 IST

Krafton Partners With Pocketpair to Develop Mobile Version of Palworld Amid Nintendo Lawsuit

Photo Credit: Pocketpair

Palworld features Pokémon-style creatures, or Pals, that can be captured and tamed for combat

Highlights

Nintendo, The Pokémon Company have filed a lawsuit against Pocketpair
Palworld released on PS5 on September 25
Krafton's PUBG Studios will develop Palworld for mobile

Palworld, the action-adventure survival title that became a phenomenon when it launched in early access on Steam and Xbox in January, is coming to mobile platforms. Krafton has signed an agreement with Palworld developer Pocketpair to make a mobile version of the game, the company announced Wednesday. The development comes after Nintendo and The Pokémon Company filed a lawsuit against Pocketpair last month over alleged instances of patent infringement in Palworld.

Palworld on Mobile

PUBG: Battlegrounds maker Krafton announced it had entered a partnership with Pocketpair to expand the Palworld intellectual property to mobile platforms. As part of the agreement, Krafton's PUBG Studios will develop a mobile version of the controversial game.

“It plans to faithfully reinterpret and implement the main fun elements of the original for the mobile environment,” Krafton said in its announcement Wednesday (translated from Korean).

Why Nintendo and the Pokémon Company Are Suing 'Palworld' Maker Pocketpair

The company has not revealed a launch timeline for the mobile version of Palworld, but one can expect the game to launch on iOS, Android and iPadOS platforms.

Palworld initially launched in early access on PC and Xbox consoles on January 19 and became a smash-hit title on both platforms, breaking player count records on Steam. In a little over a month since its launch, the game had sold 15 million copies on Steam and attracted 10 million players on Xbox. Palworld was released on PS5 on September 25.

Nintendo Lawsuit

The survival title, which features Pokémon-style creatures, or Pals, that can be captured and tamed for combat, traversal, and base building in the game's open world, became one of the most played games on Steam despite a flurry of plagiarism claims that accused the game of copying Pokémon designs. The comparisons led to Palworld being called “Pokémon with guns.”

Palworld Has Sold 15 Million Copies on Steam in Just Over a Month

Last month, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair, seeking compensation for damages and an injunction on the game. The Palworld maker has acknowledged the lawsuit but has said it is unaware of specific instances of alleged copyright infringement. "It is truly unfortunate that we will be forced to allocate significant time to matters unrelated to game development due to this lawsuit," the Japanese company said.

Palworld

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Genre Action-Adventure

Platform Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC: Windows

Modes Single-player, Multiplayer

More Pocket Pair Games

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Further reading: Palworld, Mobile, Pocketpair, Krafton, PUBG, Nintendo, Palworld Lawsuit

Manas Mitul

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In his time as a journalist, Manas Mitul has written on a wide spectrum of beats including politics, culture and sports. He enjoys reading, walking around in museums and rewatching films. Talk to Manas about football and tennis, but maybe don’t bring up his video game backlog. More