Nintendo says mods are not “previous art” because they are not complete games, trying to be tried in Palworld lawsuit

Nintendo believes that user-made mods should not be considered as previous art as part of a lawsuit against the company Palworld Developer Pocketpair.

Nintendo's claim seems to be an attempt to stop Pocket Pair from using popular Pokémon Mods to prove that the series' patented gameplay has appeared in other games elsewhere.

Nintendo's arguments – essentially, mods require separate base games to work, and therefore not art in itself – have attracted attention from both the gaming industry and Pokémon fans, with many suggesting that there could be far-reaching consequences if the judge accepts it.

Write Game competitionFirst covering the development, Florian Mueller, a journalist and legal analyst in the gaming industry, described the suggestion that the concepts or innovations involved in Mods are not as feasible as art before, but rather show the “complete disregard for great creativity” of many Mod Makers.

Furthermore, from a legal standpoint, if accepted, this ruling could open the door to patent thieves for a ruling considered a “fair game” who could incorporate the same idea into the full version of the game – which would then be protected – and then protected.

“Patients are a special monopoly granted by governments around the world to encourage creative inventions,” Richard Hoeg, a business lawyer and virtual legality podcast, told IGN. “If something already exists in the world, some newcomers are not allowed to claim that they invented it and are protected.

“We call everything that already exists, all existing art, exempts any game design simply because of the way it stands in the software.

Will Nintendo's proposal succeed? Mueller believes this is unlikely, as the courts often reject any attempt to narrow down the scope that could be considered a previous art – Nintendo is in “extreme position” here. But the time will tell because there is no sign of the end of the lawsuit.

While Nintendo's legal threat continues, Pocketpair is busy putting Palworld's Big 1.0 release together at some point in 2026. Development will focus on removing “jank” from the gameWhile smaller winter updates are still planned, communications director and publishing manager John “Bucky” Buckley said earlier this week.

Tom Phillips is the news editor for IGN. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on the Blues @tomphillipseg.bsky.social