Pocketpair CEO Says Palworld Would Come to Switch 2 If Legal Battle Allows

Pocketpair CEO Takuru Mizobe has told VGC the studio would welcome the chance to bring Palworld to Nintendo's next-generation hardware, even as the Japanese developer remains locked in a patent infringement battle with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. The lawsuit, filed in September 2024 and modified in November 2025, targets mechanics that Nintendo claims infringe on its Pokémon patents — most notably the ability to throw a sphere to summon a creature. For players who have followed Palworld's meteoric rise and the subsequent legal pressure, Mizobe's comments signal the studio has no intention of abandoning Nintendo platforms regardless of the court's eventual ruling.

The timing matters because a preliminary court view is scheduled for November 9 this year, offering the first formal indication of how the Tokyo District Court sees the case. IP experts have suggested Nintendo may only receive a $30,000 payout even if it prevails, a figure that underscores how narrow the patent claims have become after Palworld's recent updates. Mizobe's willingness to engage with Nintendo on a Switch 2 port suggests Pocketpair views the litigation as a manageable business risk rather than an existential threat to its platform strategy.

How the Lawsuit Reshaped Palworld's Core Mechanics

The most tangible impact of the legal battle arrived in Early Access patch v0.3.11, which removed the sphere-throwing mechanic that let players summon Pals at a targeted location. Previously, you could toss a Pal Sphere to a specific spot, drawing enemy aggro or flanking opponents from an unexpected angle — a tactical layer that rewarded positioning and timing. Now, summoned Pals simply spawn directly beside your character while you hold out the sphere, stripping away that spatial flexibility and making combat encounters feel more straightforward and less dynamic.

This change wasn't cosmetic; it altered how players approach fights, particularly in the early game where Pal positioning could turn a losing skirmish into a manageable one. The removal also affects exploration, since you can no longer send a flying or climbing Pal to a distant ledge to scout or retrieve items. The adjustment appears to have been made to avoid stepping on Nintendo's patent, and while the lawsuit's scope has narrowed as a result, the gameplay cost is visible every time you summon a companion.

What a Switch 2 Port Would Mean for Players

If the legal dispute resolves favorably — or at least clears the path for negotiations — a Switch 2 version of Palworld would bring the creature-collecting survival experience to Nintendo's hybrid hardware for the first time. The platform's portability suits Palworld's loop of base-building, resource gathering, and Pal management, letting players tend to their settlements during commutes or breaks. Performance on the new hardware would likely improve on the frame-rate struggles some players encounter on base-model Switch with similar open-world titles, though Pocketpair has not confirmed technical targets.

Players will naturally ask about cross‑platform play and progress sync, especially since Palworld already runs multiplayer on PC and Xbox. If Switch 2 were to join that system, cross‑platform play could allow players on different systems to share the same world. Mizobe's emphasis on Switch 2's significance in Japan suggests a local launch would likely receive full localization and marketing support. That approach would give the title a real chance to thrive on the platform.

For now, Palworld continues to evolve on PC and Xbox while the court process unfolds. The studio's public stance — eager for Nintendo hardware, pragmatic about legal constraints — reflects a developer that has already weathered one major controversy and adapted its core design under pressure. Whether that adaptability extends to a Switch 2 launch will depend on lawyers and judges as much as engineers, but the intent is now on the record.