User-made mods should not be considered prior art, Nintendo has argued, as part of the company’s lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair.
Nintendo’s claim appears to be an attempt at blocking Pocketpair from using popular Pokémon mods as evidence that the franchise’s patented gameplay was already being featured in other games elsewhere.
The argument put forth by Nintendo — essentially, that mods require a separate base game to function, so therefore are not art by themselves — has raised eyebrows across the games industry and among Pokémon fans alike, with many suggesting it could have far-reaching consequences if accepted by a judge.
Writing in Games Fray, which first reported the development, games industry reporter and legal analyst Florian Mueller described the suggestion that gameplay ideas or innovations featured in mods were not viable as prior art as something that showed “utter disregard for the enormous creativity” of many mod makers.
Additionally, and perhaps more concerning from a legal perspective if accepted, the ruling could potentially open the door to mods being considered “fair game” for patent thieves, who could swoop in and incorporate the same ideas into full game releases — which would then be protected.
“Patents are a special monopoly granted by the governments of the world to encourage creative invention,” business lawyer and creator of the Virtual Legality podcast Richard Hoeg told IGN today. “If something already exists in the world, some new person is not allowed to claim they invented it and get that protection.
“We call everything that already exists ‘prior art,’ and it would be ludicrous to exempt any piece of game design from that category simply because of how it’s stood up in the software. The mechanism for access shouldn’t really matter. It exists. It makes things like it in the world non-novel and thus not subject to protection. We don’t give out monopolies to second place.”
Will Nintendo succeed with its claim? Mueller suggests it is unlikely, as courts typically reject any attempt to narrow what can be considered prior art — with Nintendo taking an “extreme position” here. But time will tell, as the lawsuit shows no sign of winding down.
While Nintendo’s legal threats continue, Pocketpair is busy putting together Palworld’s big 1.0 release, due at some point in 2026. In the meantime, development will focus on removing “jank” from the game, communications director and publishing manager John “Bucky” Buckley said earlier this week, though a smaller winter update is still planned.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
