Palworld’s PS5 release held up in Japan amid Nintendo Pokémon lawsuit

Pocketpair has confirmed that plans to release Palworld for PS5 in Japan are on hold.

In a surprise announcement during a PlayStation State of Play presentation on Tuesday, it was revealed that the game had been released for PS5.

However, in a follow-up message on the Palword’s Japanese X account, Pocketpair said plans to release the game in Japan were currently up in the air.

“As announced on the official PlayStation State of Play, the PS5 version of Palworld was released today in 68 countries and regions worldwide,” it said (via machine translation).

“The release date for Japan has not yet been determined. We are very sorry for the Japanese people who have been looking forward to the release of Palworld, but we will do our best to deliver the game to all PS5 users as soon as possible.

“We hope you will continue to enjoy Palworld in the future.”

While Pocketpair didn’t specify the reason for the delay, it was recently announced that the developer is being sued by fellow Japanese firms Nintendo and The Pokémon Company.

In a lawsuit filed last week in the Tokyo District Court, plaintiffs said they are seeking an injunction against infringement and compensation for damages “on the grounds that Palworld, a game developed and released by the Defendant, infringes multiple patent rights.”

In a subsequent statement, Pocketpair signalled its intention to fight the lawsuit.

“We will do our utmost for our fans, and to ensure that indie game developers are not hindered or discouraged from pursuing their creative ideas,” it said.

Released in January via Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview, the monster-catching survival game was an immediate hit, attracting 25 million players in just its first month, according to Pocketpair.