Palworld developer Pocketpair has announced a major update for the game coming in December, as well as a crossover with Terraria.
Referring to the Palworld discord, Pocketpair said that the December update adds the “largest, roughest and most mysterious” island in Palworld’s history. This up-to-date island is about six times larger than Sakurajima, which hit Palworld in June.
“Don’t miss this!” Pocketpair teased with the screenshots below.
Meanwhile, Pocketpair announced a surprise crossover with the indie hit Terraria. There are no details yet, but the graphic below shows characters from both games shaking hands. Expect whatever it is to arrive in 2025.
All of this, of course, is happening while Pocketpair is trying to defend itself in a high-profile patent lawsuit filed by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. Following Palworld’s massive launch earlier this year on PC and Xbox, comparisons were made between Pals and Palworld’s Pokémon, with some accusing Pocketpair of “ripping off” Pokémon’s designs. However, instead of filing a copyright infringement lawsuit, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company went the patent route. They want 5 million yen (about $32,846) each, plus damages for overdue payment, as well as an injunction against Palworld that would block its release.
Earlier this month Pocketpair has confirmed three patents based in Japanwhich focus on catching Pokémon in a virtual field is the subject of a lawsuit. Palworld does feature a mechanic that involves throwing a ball-like object (called a Pal Ball) at monsters on the field in order to catch them, similar to the mechanics seen in the 2022 Nintendo Switch exclusive game. Pokémon Legends: Arceus. One of the three patents in question concerns riding Pokémon (Palworld also allows players to ride Pals).
One patent expert suggested that a 2016 mod for GTA 5 could be considered a precedent by the court because it included Pokémon catching mechanics long before Pokémon Legends: Arceus. If this happens, it could work to Palworld’s advantage.
Palworld launched on Steam for $30 and went straight to Game Pass on Xbox and PC earlier this year, breaking sales and concurrent player records in the process. Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe said that Palworld’s launch was so large that the developer couldn’t handle the huge profits the game generated. Still, Pocketpair acted quickly to capitalize on Palworld’s breakthrough success, inking a deal with Sony to create a up-to-date company called Palworld Entertainment to expand the intellectual property.
Patent experts say Nintendo and The Pokémon Company’s lawsuit against Pocketpair is evidence of the threat posed by Palworldwhich has since been released on PS5. Pocketpair vowed to take Nintendo and The Pokémon Company to court, saying, “We will continue to reaffirm our position on this matter in future legal proceedings.”
Wesley is the UK news editor at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. Wesley can be reached at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
