Nintendo's lawsuit over alleged patent infringement is causing Pocketpair to make some substantial changes to Palworld .
The development studio has in fact announced the imminent release of a patch that will remove the ability to soar using Pals . From update 0.5.5 onwards, players will have to use a glider instead of a living creature. Pals will still be able to provide bonuses to characteristics while flying, but they can no longer be used as a replacement for the glider.
Note that this isn't the first time Pocketpair has released a patch aimed at minimizing legal hassles . Back at the end of last year, with the release of patch 0.3.11, the ability to summon Pals to your side by throwing a Pal Ball was removed. From then on, the summoning would take place via a standard animation so as to remove any references to the Pokémon franchise.
“ We are currently engaged in a lengthy legal proceeding regarding alleged patent infringement, ” the statement reads. “ We continue to oppose these allegations and maintain that the claims are void. However, we have had to ensure that we make some compromises to minimize disruption to the development and distribution of Palworld. ”
The Pocketpair team then wanted to apologize directly to players for any inconvenience caused by these changes, while also ensuring that development will continue.