“This is my first game,”: Palworld Creator Was a Student Dev With Nintendo Years Before His Game Was Eventually Sued

Since its launch, Palworld has taken the gaming world by storm, drawing in millions of players with its blend of adorable creatures and immersive survival gameplay. But while players enjoy capturing Pals, building bases, and navigating the open world, the game hides a fascinating story of Takuro Mizobe, the creator behind it.

Mizobe’s journey began in 2010 as a college student when he participated in Nintendo’s Game Seminar, where he worked on his first game. Now he is the mastermind behind one of the most successful games of 2024. However, just as the game was hitting its stride, Palworld found itself in a legal battle against Nintendo, accusing Pocketpair of patent infringement.

Palworld Creator’s early career and Nintendo’s influence

In an interview, Takuro Mizobe shared some insights into his journey to game development. He revealed that his path began in 2010 when he was just a college student eager to break into the gaming industry.

To seize his opportunity, Mizobe participated in Nintendo’s prestigious Game Seminar in Tokyo and was tasked with creating a game that was both innovative and unique.

This is my first game, Nintendo wanted students to create a new game. So I learned how to create a new game and think in a unique style of game development.

He created his first game, The Tentai Show, a shooting game for the DS that made clever use of dual screens. This innovative use of the DS hardware set Mizobe apart from many other budding developers and laid the groundwork for his future projects.

However, Mizobe didn’t just want to create new things for the sake of novelty. In 2015, he cofounded Pocketpair. Fast forward to 2024, and the company launched Palworld, which instantly found success by offering a unique hybrid of a Pokémon-style creature collection and the survival mechanics of Ark: Survival Evolved.

In just a few weeks, Palworld became a global hit, attracting millions of players on various platforms. However, as the game’s popularity skyrocketed, it found itself under the gazing eyes of Nintendo. And on September 29, a legal case was filed, accusing the game of infringing on two patents.

How the lawsuit affects the game’s future

For those unfamiliar, the lawsuit focused on the game mechanics that closely resembled those found in the Pokémon series: the “Poké Ball throwing” and “Pokémon riding” mechanics.

These features play a central role in Palworld, allowing players to throw a device to capture pals and ride or use them for battle, similar to what players have done in Pokémon for years.

While Pocketpair has been vocal about not stealing the idea and continued to support the game with updates, it seems the studio is trying to avoid a lengthy legal battle. In late November, they released an update modifying the very mechanics targeted by the lawsuit.

While these tweaks have helped distance the game from other intellectual properties, the core appeal of Palworld remains intact. The game continues to thrive, with a new update called Feybreak recently introduced, offering players even more to explore.

In the end, whether the game can continue to thrive without facing further legal obstacles remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain: Mizobe’s journey in the gaming world is far from over.

This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire