Krafton, the publisher of PUBG, is bringing Palworld on mobile devices despite the looming Nintendo suit

Pocketpair warned earlier this year that there is no Palworld mobile app for phones. But one day there will be. PUBG publisher Krafton announced a deal to bring the popular survival-crafting mobile game to devices.

This is not Krafton's debut into the mobile gaming world. PUBG Mobile is still going strong after years of existence. In 2023, Krafton made a similar agreement with Ironmace in order to bring Dark and Darker on mobile devices.

The Palworld deal is particularly interesting because it comes at a time when Pocketpair is in trouble: After waiting for the better part a year, and lulling the public into a false sense that "they must be cool" with it, Nintendo filed a suit over Palworld, alleging that the game "infringes on multiple patent rights related to Pokemon".

It's unclear at this point what impact the lawsuit may have on the deal or the game. Nintendo's legal action is based on specific patent infringements rather than the visual similarity of Pals and Pokemon. This may offer Krafton an escape hatch. The company stated in a statement translated by PC Gamer, that it "plans" to faithfully reinterpret the core elements which made the original game so popular, while optimizing them to be played on mobile devices.

It was not specified what this reinterpretation meant, but it may indicate that Krafton is aiming to remove whatever it is that Nintendo dislikes about the game. It could also mean that the game will be free-to-play, rather than a purchased one, as it is currently on Steam.

It's possible that Krafton just wants to play the dice and hope for boxcars. You'll remember that Krafton's agreement for a mobile Dark and Darker was made when Ironmace was being sued by Nexon. Nexon accused the studio of using assets stolen from an abandoned project to build the game. In this case, it seems that Krafton is taking a similar approach: A Krafton rep told PC Gamer that "This lawsuit is between Nintendo, Pocketpair, and is not related to Krafton as we are a 3rd party."

Nintendo is notoriously aggressive in its legal dealings. (Don't be fooled by the "it's-a-me, Mario!" You shouldn't be fooled by this "it's-a me, Mario" stuff. Even if everything goes wrong for Pocketpair at this point, the worst-case scenario for Krafton would be to pay whatever it costs to secure the rights to Palworld for mobile. And given that it purchased Tango Gameworks, even though it believes Hi-Fi Rush doesn't make money, I suppose that it can afford to eat the cost if necessary.

Krafton's PUBG Studios is developing the mobile version of Palworld. The release date has not yet been announced.