Nintendo obtains patents that threaten the collector genre

Nintendo and The Pokemon Company are intensifying the process against the developer of Palworld, Pocketpair, which started "about a year ago." The escalation is not only happening in the legal sphere, but also in the acquisition of new patents, which could change the landscape for other game developers in the future.

Nintendo has obtained two new US patents reported by Games Fray, one granted "last week" and the other "yesterday." One of the patents covers a mechanism for "smooth exchange of mount objects," but the second one is more concerning. The patent, filed as "US Patent No. 12,403,397," covers the act of "summoning a 'character' and using it in combat against others." The document is difficult to follow, but it applies even when there is no immediate enemy to fight, expanding the scope of the patent.

The new Nintendo patent extends to the gameplay cores of virtually all games of the genre, not just Palworld. Games like Moonstone Island and the indie hit Casette Beasts are built on the same central premise. As the process unfolds, Pocketpair has already had to make "certain compromises" in its development to "avoid disruptions."

Nintendo's history of adding patents while a process is ongoing, as it did "just a few months ago" with the drafting of a mount-related patent, demonstrates the aggressiveness of its legal strategy. With Nintendo strengthening its position, the future of creature collecting games, once a vibrant genre, now seems uncertain, with a single patent holder over its essential mechanics.