Palworld removes Pal gliding as it continues its legal battle with Nintendo

Nintendo's lawyers person killed different Palworld gameplay mechanic. Pocketpair issued a spot connected Thursday that changes however gliding works successful the cheeky "Pokémon with guns" satire.

You tin inactive glide successful Palworld, but you tin nary longer usage your Pal to bash so. Starting with spot v0.5.5, you tin lone soar with a boring, inanimate glider successful your inventory. Although Glider Pals tin inactive passively buff gliding, it's nary longer arsenic amusive arsenic flinging retired the carnal and utilizing their aerodynamics to transverse a ravine.

As you'd expect, Pocketpair's determination traces backmost to its ineligible defense. Nintendo and The Pokémon Company sued the developer successful Japan past year, claiming Palworld infringes connected aggregate patents. Since then, Nintendo has filed a flurry of patent applications successful the US successful an evident strategy to spell planetary with its ineligible assault.

"We recognize that this volition beryllium disappointing for many, conscionable arsenic it is for us," Pocketpair wrote. "But we anticipation our fans recognize that these changes are indispensable successful bid to forestall further disruptions to the improvement of Palworld."

Today's update isn't the archetypal to bork the crippled to effort to stave disconnected the Mario maker's ineligible barrage. In November, Palworld removed the quality to summon Pals by throwing Spheres, 1 of the game's much Pokémon-esque details. But gliding is simply a overmuch little established Pokémon gameplay mechanic. On apical of that, it's a communal 1 successful the industry, recovered successful franchises arsenic divers arsenic Far Cry, Fortnite and Batman: Arkham.

The suit sparks fears that manufacture behemoths utilizing the courts to snuff retired smaller competitors volition go much widespread. "Video game patent mechanics has to utterly dice fixed however it's either abused by large companies to cripple immoderate contention oregon utterly wasted similar with the Nemesis strategy from Middle-earth games," u/DenseCalligrapher219 opined connected Reddit.

Another mode to presumption Nintendo's determination is that it masks the stench of a stagnant franchise. "If Nintendo is going to sabotage different Pokémon-like games, the slightest they could bash is get Game Freak to make a Pokémon crippled that isn't garbage," wrote u/VacantThoughts. "The world's biggest franchise with the world's laziest half-ass devs."