Palworld's modding community is stepping in to revive gameplay features that developer Pocketpair had to remove following a patent lawsuit from Nintendo and The Pokémon Company.
Last week, Pocketpair acknowledged that recent updates altered the game as a direct result of ongoing legal pressure from Nintendo and The Pokémon Company.
Palworld launched on Steam for $30 and simultaneously on Xbox and PC Game Pass in early 2024, quickly breaking sales and concurrent player records. Pocketpair's CEO, Takuro Mizobe, stated that the game's launch was so successful that the studio struggled to manage the enormous profits it generated. Despite this, Pocketpair moved quickly to leverage Palworld's popularity, forming a partnership with Sony to establish a new entity called Palworld Entertainment, aimed at expanding the franchise. The game later released on PS5.
Following Palworld's massive launch, comparisons were drawn between its creatures, called Pals, and Pokémon, leading some to accuse Pocketpair of copying Pokémon designs. Instead of pursuing copyright infringement, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company filed a patent lawsuit. They are seeking 5 million yen (approximately $32,846) each, plus damages for late payments, and an injunction to halt Palworld's distribution.
In November, Pocketpair confirmed the three Japanese patents at the center of the lawsuit, which relate to capturing creatures in a virtual environment. Palworld originally included a mechanic where players throw a ball-like object, known as a Pal Sphere, at creatures in the wild to capture them—similar to the system in the 2022 Nintendo Switch title Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
Six months later, Pocketpair released an update admitting that recent changes were indeed prompted by legal pressure. The studio confirmed that Patch v0.3.11, released in November 2024, altered game mechanics as a direct result of the lawsuit, removing the ability to summon Pals by tossing Pal Spheres and replacing it with a static summon near the player. The update also adjusted several other gameplay features.
Pocketpair stated that failing to implement these changes would have "significantly worsened the gameplay experience for players."
Pocketpair also revealed that last week’s Patch v0.5.5 further modified Palworld, requiring players to use a glider item for gliding instead of relying on Pals. While Pals in the player's party still grant passive gliding bonuses, players must now carry a glider in their inventory to glide.
The developer described these adjustments as "compromises" made under the threat of a potential injunction that could disrupt Palworld's development and sales.
Just one week after the update, modders have already reintroduced the original gliding mechanic. As reported by Dexerto, Primarinabee’s Glider Restoration mod, available on Nexus Mods, reverses the changes introduced in the latest patch.
"Palworld Patch 0.5.5? What? That didn't happen!" the mod's description jokes.
"For those who love flying with their Pals, this mod uses a bit of sleight of hand to undo the so-called 'removal' of gliding Pals," it continues. "You'll still need a glider in your inventory, and it's not perfectly identical, but it effectively reverses Patch 0.5.5 without preventing future game updates."
Primarinabee’s Glider Restoration mod was published on May 10 and has already been downloaded hundreds of times.
As for restoring the throw-to-release mechanic, a similar mod exists but doesn’t fully replicate the original pre-patch behavior—it omits the ball-throwing animation and simply summons the Pal where the player is looking.
The ongoing lawsuit raises questions about how long the Glider Restoration mod will remain accessible.
At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in March, IGN held an in-depth conversation with John “Bucky” Buckley, Pocketpair’s communications director and publishing manager for Palworld.
The discussion followed his conference talk, "Community Management Summit: A Palworld Roller Coaster: Surviving the Drop." During his presentation, Buckley openly addressed several challenges Palworld faced, including allegations of using generative AI (which Pocketpair has since thoroughly refuted) and claims that it stole Pokémon models for its Pals (a accusation later retracted by the original source). He also commented on Nintendo’s patent lawsuit, noting that it "came as a shock" to the studio and was "something nobody had anticipated."
