Palworld Modder Afraid to Release Mods Cause of Nintendo
The Pokemon mod for Palworld managed to cause a controversy on YouTube, but all indications are that the chances of its release are slim because of Nintendo.
Palworld, a project combining survival with elements from Pokemon series, is the hottest production of cold January. In just a few days, it shattered almost all records on Steam, and with Unreal Engine 5, modding isn't too difficult, at least when it comes to replacing models and other graphic elements.
It is therefore not surprising that an attempt has already been made to make a mod delivering characters and creatures from the Pokemon series to the game. However, the trailer was quickly removed from YouTube after the intervention of Nintendo. Now we have learned a little more about this situation.
- The mod was developed by a group led by Australian streamer Toasted.
- The shared videos were blocked by Nintendo using the DMCA procedure. Toasted doesn't own the rights to the Pokemon brand, obviously, so contesting it would be difficult.
- It should be noted that Nintendo didn't sue the streamer. The DMCA procedure itself is effective enough and the company has used it multiple times to suppress fan projects using its brands without the need to take matters to court.
- Toasted admits that he still wants to release the mod, but is afraid of Nintendo escalating the situation. As he explains:
I've been getting a large influx of people asking where they can get the mod etc. We want to release it for free to everyone, however due to Nintendo sending a DMCA over the last tweet we want to tread lightly for the time being.
The situation is complicated by the fact that he is a well-known streamer. Therefore, there's no luxury of an unknown modder releasing such a project under a new alias and then vanishing in the hope that Nintendo won't be able to track them down.
Some players are pressing the streamer to release the mod nonetheless, to which the streamer responds that he will do so if they cover his legal fees when Nintendo sues him. To lighten the mood, Toasted joked that maybe it would be a good idea to develop a mod that brings creatures from Palworld to Pokemon games.
There is little hope that the mod will be publicly released at the moment. Creators face an excessively high risk, and Nintendo has demonstrated multiple times that the company's lawyers are not to be trifled with. The admins of Nexus Mods have announced they will not permit posting any mods for Palworld that would infringe the copyrights.
Palworld was released on PC and Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. It is also available as part of Game Pass on these platforms. The game has already been purchased by over 7 million players on Steam alone.
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