When it’s time to shut down fun and fan projects, Nintendo’s lawyers are always ahead of the curve. This is also why fans of the company have given Nintendo’s lawyers their own made-up name, which is ‘Nintendo Ninjas’.
But this time it seems like the ninjas have failed at their mission. Nintendo tried to push an absurd patent that sought to control a particular game system mechanic related to summoning characters and using them to fight.
You probably have guessed already, Nintendo was trying to gain a monopoly over a major system in the monster-collecting RPG genre. Mostly because of Pokémon, since the IP was getting threatened by the presence of another monster-collecting game that was getting exceptional success.
Pokémon vs. Palworld saga was the precursor to his drama
Of course, Pokémon is the first thing that comes to mind when anyone talks about creature taming or monster collecting, but it’s not a monopolised genre in video games. There are plenty of indie as well as major IPs that are constantly making games, which is about befriending new creatures on a journey.
2024’s Palworld was a game that directly challenged the popularity of Pokémon. Even though it was a completely unique title from the gameplay standpoint, there was still a lot of DNA that was controversially similar to Pokémon. Nintendo was not going to let this slide and filed for lawsuits.
One of which sought to directly monopolize the summoning and letting it fight mechanic. The patent was originally approved, but moved into a reexamination late last year due to widespread criticisms from lawyers universally.
Monster collecting mechanics predate Pokémon
According to the newest reports on the matter, the US patent office has officially dialed back and revoked the patent, which brought resounding celebrations throughout the gaming community.
Realistically, Nintendo cannot patent creature collectors because Pokémon was not even the pioneering game in the genre. The idea of monsters in RPGs as a controllable party member dates back to games such as the Megami Tensei, Wizardry, and Dragon Quest.
Some of the most popular games in the JRPG subgenre, such as Final Fantasy and the Persona series, utilize summoning creatures as a core mechanic during combat. So just to have a monopoly over something like this would result in overall stunted progress for the genre’s future.
Users online are in a full celebratory mood over the revocation of this patent. Gamers on Twitter/X took to the platform to call out Nintendo once again on their greedy behaviour. Although the coast is clear for now, the next Nintendo lawsuit or weird patent could be right around the corner.
