Palworld PS5 Appears at State of Play Against Backdrop of Pokemon Lawsuit

Just days after Nintendo sued developer Pocketpair for alleged patent infringement, Pokemon-with-guns game Palworld has appeared at Sony’s State of Play in a surprising shadow drop: the game is out on PS5 at last, starting today.

The monster battling adventure materialized during the State of Play today featuring a player character cheekily designed to look rather like Horizon: Zero Dawn’s Aloy, complete with a team of pals.

We didn’t really see any new game details in the trailer, but it concluded with the message that the game is out today on PS5.

Palworld’s release on PS5 comes just after the news that Nintendo and The Pokemon Company are filing a lawsuit against developer Pocketpair, alleging that Palworld infringes on multiple of their owned patent rights. While fans had speculated for months that the company would take Pocketpair to court, speculation largely revolved around the similarities of some of Palworld’s monster designs to Pokemon’s. The actual lawsuit, however, revolves around patented game mechanics, leaving many puzzled as to how it may actually play out in Japanese courts.

Palworld launched in early access in January this year on PC and Xbox as a day-one Game Pass title. We gave its early access launch an 8/10, saying that it “may crib quite a bit from Pokémon’s homework, but deep survival mechanics and a hilarious attitude make it hard to put down – even in Early Access.”

You can catch up with everything announced in today’s State of Play right here.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected].