Palworld officially launched version 1.0 on July 9 at 11:30 p.m. ET while the patent infringement lawsuit brought by Nintendo Co., Ltd. and The Pokémon Company against developer Pocketpair remains pending before the Tokyo District Court.
The current posture of the case is limited to earlier, pre-patch versions of Palworld. The asserted patents relate to gameplay mechanics involving ball-throwing creature capture and creature-riding traversal systems. In November 2025, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company amended their claims to address versions of the game released before Pocketpair modified the accused mechanics during Early Access.
No injunction has been issued against Palworld, and the game remains available on all supported platforms. The pending litigation does not restrict the distribution or availability of the current version, including Palworld 1.0.
Patent analyst Florian Mueller, after reviewing publicly available court filings, reported that he does not see a path to liability for current or recent versions of Palworld, including version 1.0. Mueller has estimated potential damages at roughly $62,000 combined for Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. Those figures are not a court determination.
The Tokyo District Court is scheduled to hear evidence on October 1, 2026, with a decision expected on November 9, 2026. The court’s ruling will address the remaining claims concerning earlier versions of the game.
