Palworld Modders Bring Back Features Removed Due to Nintendo and Pokémon Lawsuit

Palworld modders are taking matters into their own hands and restoring mechanics that developer Pocketpair was forced to patch out due to Nintendo and The Pokémon Company's patent lawsuit.

Last week, Pocketpair admitted that recent patches made changes to the game that were forced upon it as a result of the ongoing litigation with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company.

Palworld launched on Steam priced at $30 and directly into Game Pass on Xbox and PC in early 2024, breaking sales and concurrent player number records in the process. Pocketpair's boss, Takuro Mizobe, stated that Palworld's launch was so significant that the developer struggled to manage the massive profits the game generated. Nevertheless, Pocketpair quickly capitalized on Palworld's breakout success by signing a deal with Sony to form a new business called Palworld Entertainment, tasked with expanding the IP. The game was later launched on PS5.

After Palworld's huge launch, comparisons were drawn between Palworld's Pals and Pokémon, with some accusing Pocketpair of "ripping off" Pokémon designs. Instead of pursuing a copyright infringement lawsuit, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company opted for a patent lawsuit. The companies are seeking 5 million yen (approximately $32,846) each, plus late payment damages, and an injunction against Palworld that would block its release.

In November, Pocketpair confirmed the three Japan-based patents it is being sued over, which revolve around catching Pokémon in a virtual field. Palworld initially included a mechanic that involved throwing a ball-like object (called a Pal Sphere) at monsters in a field to capture them, similar to the mechanic in the 2022 Nintendo Switch exclusive Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

Half a year later, Pocketpair issued an update admitting that recent changes to the game were indeed the result of the legal threats. Pocketpair confirmed that Patch v0.3.11, released in November 2024, was a response to the ongoing litigation — as players had suspected. This patch removed the ability to summon Pals by throwing Pal Spheres, changing it to a static summon next to the player. Several other game mechanics were also altered with this patch.

Pocketpair stated that if it hadn’t made these changes to Palworld, "the alternative would have led to an even greater deterioration of the gameplay experience for players."

Pocketpair revealed that last week's Patch v0.5.5 made further changes to Palworld, so that gliding is now performed using a glider rather than with Pals. Pals in the player's team still provide passive buffs to gliding, but players now need to have a glider in their inventory to glide.

Pocketpair described these changes as "compromises" the studio is being forced to make out of fear of an injunction that could block the development and sale of Palworld.

Just a week later, modders have restored the gliding mechanic to Palworld. As reported by Dexerto, Primarinabee's Glider Restoration mod, available on Nexus Mods, reverses the change introduced by last week's patch.

"Palworld Patch 0.5.5? What? That didn't happen!" reads the mod description.

"For those of you who love flying with your pals, this mod uses sleight of hand to reverse the sleight-of-hand 'removal' of gliding pals," it continues. "You still need a glider in your inventory, and it's not QUITE perfect, but it basically reverses Patch 0.5.5 without requiring you to forego future game updates."

Primarinabee's Glider Restoration mod was released on May 10 and has already been downloaded hundreds of times.

As for restoring the throw-to-release Pals mechanic, there is a mod available that attempts to do so, but it doesn't work exactly as Palworld did before last year's patch (it lacks the ball-throwing animation, instead summoning the Pal where the player is looking).

The question now is how long the Glider Restoration mod will remain available, given the ongoing lawsuit.

At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in March, IGN conducted an extended interview with John "Bucky" Buckley, communications director and publishing manager for Palworld developer Pocketpair.

The interview followed Buckley's talk at the conference, titled 'Community Management Summit: A Palworld Roller Coaster: Surviving the Drop.' During his talk, Buckley candidly discussed several of Palworld's challenges, including accusations of using generative AI (which Pocketpair has debunked) and stealing Pokémon models for its Pals (a claim retracted by the original accuser). He also touched on Nintendo's patent infringement lawsuit against the studio, stating it "came as a shock" and was "something that no one even considered."