Palworld surprise launches on PlayStation 5, in spite of Pokémon lawsuit

Palworld is out now on PlayStation 5, Sony Interactive Entertainment and developer Pocketpair announced during Tuesday’s State of Play broadcast. It’s somewhat awkward timing for the creature catching, open world survival game, closely following a Japanese lawsuit filed recently by The Pokémon Company.

Previously, there was no announcement suggesting that Palworld would come to PlayStation 5 — but it was basically a given, considering a newly-announced partnership between Pocketpair and Sony Music Entertainment. The two companies joined together to create Palworld Entertainment, a multimedia licensing company that sounds a lot like Palworld’s version of The Pokémon Company. Despite that, Tuesday’s announcement — and surprise launch — is the first formal acknowledgement of the game coming to PlayStation 5. Palworld was originally released on Jan. 19 on Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

The short Palworld clip shown during the State of Play broadcast curiously didn’t include any footage of the game’s creature catching, a core mechanic that may be cited in The Pokémon Company’s lawsuit. Instead, it showed its creatures, called Pals, toiling away at a camp, then cut to a person using a gun to take on enemy pals. The lack of Pal spheres, however, may just be a coincidence.

Beyond Tuesday’s State of Play, Palworld was also expected to appear at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show. Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association put out an exhibitor list on Sept. 11, which noted that Palworld would have a PlayStation 5 showcase. Some press noticed after the lawsuit went public that Palworld was removed from the list; it’s possible this is unrelated to the lawsuit entirely, and, perhaps, an unintentional leak of Tuesday’s surprise launch.