Palworld Devs Quietly Release New

In a surprise move, Palworld developer Pocketpair has launched its 2019 title OverDungeon on the Nintendo eShop. Pocketpair has been under fire for months after Palworld was accused of patent infringement by Nintendo and The Pokemon Company.

In September 2024, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company sued Pocketpair over its popular monster-taming game Palworld. According to the plaintiffs, Palworld's Pal Spheres, which work similar to Pokeballs, infringed some of Pokemon's creature-capturing system patents. The lawsuit caused controversy within the gaming industry. Pocketpair previously stated that the situation was "unfortunate," but assured the company would follow the investigation procedures. Despite the lawsuit, Palworld released a huge update in December, which spiked its number of concurrent Steam players. Now, in what seems to be another bold move, Pocketpair has launched another game on the Nintendo eShop.

On January 9, Pocketpair unexpectedly released OverDungeon for Nintendo Switch consoles. Launched initially only on Steam in 2019, OverDungeon is an action card game with tower defense and roguelike mechanics, according to the game's description on the Nintendo eShop. This is Pocketpair's first game for the Switch, yet the company gave no previous announcements about the launch. However, Pocketpair has confirmed that OverDungeon is on sale with 50% off until January 24 to celebrate its Nintendo Switch debut. Considering that Palworld is available on PS5 and Xbox, it is unclear why developers decided to go for the Nintendo eShop in OverDungeon's case. On social media, some users think it could be another response from Pocketpair to Nintendo's lawsuit.

Pocketpair Launches Its First Nintendo Switch Game Amid Lawsuit

While Palworld is by far Pocketpair's most famous game, it's not the first to be compared to a Nintendo title. In 2020, Pocketpair released Craftopia, an RPG that looked very similar to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The game continues to receive updates on Steam, though, as it did in December. On the other hand, developers have been consistently promoting Palworld even after the lawsuit. The game also announced a collaboration with Terraria. The first part of this crossover came with the addition of a new Pal named Meowmeow, but Pocketpair confirmed that there will be more Terraria-related content throughout 2025.

Since the lawsuit was revealed, the parties involved have shared almost no further information. Some patent experts have said that Nintendo's Palworld lawsuit could last for years if no settlement is reached. Aside from the Terraria collaboration, Pocketpair has teased more plans for Palworld in 2025, including a Mac port and a potential Mobile one as well.