Japanese Fans Are Siding With Nintendo Over The Pocket Pair Lawsuit

With the news that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are suing Pocket Pair, the reaction by Japanese fans has generally been in favor of Nintendo.

This is not to say that Japanese fans are hugely supportive of Nintendo or The Pokémon Company. The issue that tends to crop up is that Pocket Pair already had a history of copying Nintendo’s output and that this was the inevitable outcome.

For instance, one post on X points out that Craftopia was a copy of Breath of the Wild, so that the situation with Palworld is by no means a one-off.

You also have people pointing out that the apparent partnership between Pocket Pair with Sony and Aniplex likely expedited Nintendo’s legal response. With this being similar to the case with Colopl back in 2017.

However, much of the anger at Pocket Pair seems to be about them lacking any morals as a game developer.

The interesting thing here is that the Western response has been more on Pocket Pair’s side. Viewing them as some kind of underdog, which is not a viewpoint widely shared by Japanese fans. The way Pocket Pair called the indie developer card actually angered some people here.

As such, I spoke with Japanese gaming analyst Serkan Toto about the situation, and he was very much aware of the reaction by fans in Japan.

“It is difficult to quantify, but there can be no doubt the overwhelming majority of Japanese voicing their opinions online are actually backing Nintendo. Reactions range across schadenfreude, anticipation of what will happen to Pocket Pair in the future or pure malice. Most people in Japan seem to think that Pocket Pair now get what they deserve, whereas opinions seem to be more divided in the West.”

What is also apparent in the Western discourse is the lack of understanding of how patent law works, or in general how intellectual property law operates.

In Japan, the sense that Pocket Pair has plagiarised Nintendo’s works is somehow more keenly felt. Not because they have any loyalty to Nintendo, but just on the principle that it’s wrong.

In any case, it’s clear that Nintendo has been preparing for this legal showdown since Palworld launched in January and it’s seems that Pocket Pair is in for a rough ride either way.

Follow me on X, Facebook and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and am currently featured in the Giant Robots exhibition currently touring Japan.