Palworld recently left early access with the huge 1.0 release patch that happened yesterday. Among the huge list of things that got tweaked for released, what strangely went unmentioned by Pocketpair were the redesigns of a few Pals.
Pocketpair is no stranger to being on the receiving end of legal action from Game Freak. Nintendo's infamous "summoning a character" patent that happened on September 2 2025, and the subsequent revoking of that patent on April 1 2026. Even before the lawsuit, they had remove "Pal spheres" and Pal gliding from the game. Pocketpair even revealed their own Pokemon Pokopia-like game, Palworld Palfarm shortly after that patent. The two companies have essentially been at each other's throats for a while now.
Which Pals Got Redesigned?
The controversy of course didn't just come from nothing. It originated because some Pals looked a lot like some recognizable Pokemon, to the point where they didn't even bother trying to hide what their inspirations were. A couple of them that players spotted include:
Verdash - Now looks a little bit less like "green Cinderace" and has slightly less humanoid proportions.
Robinquill - Uses a new shade of green, and has redesigned wings.
Fenglope - Uses a new shade of blue to differentiate itself from Cobalion, and has had its horns reworked.
Does This Have Anything to Do With the Nintendo Lawsuit?
It's reasonable to believe that Nintendo's lawsuits were the primary impetus behind changes to the Pals. However, the designs of the Pals themselves were never the primary issue with Nintendo's lawsuits as much as they were feeling that the game as a whole had stepped on Pokemon's toes too much (and let's be honest, feeling threatened with the first real successful competitor).
Instead, these redesigns appear to be more of an admission that some of these designs were not exactly the epitome of creativity and would rather leave their own footprint on the world instead of copying and slightly modifying someone else's. This isn't to say that wanting to avoid further hostilities with Game Freak wasn't a driving factor to some degree, but where Pocketpair is coming from seems to be less of a legal matter and more of a personal one. They want Palworld to be its own thing instead of a strange clone.
Catch Up on Palworld's 1.0 Launch
The design tweaks are just one small part of a huge week for Palworld. If you're diving back in, we've rounded up everything you need to know:
Palworld Keeps Its $29.99 Price at 1.0 Launch as 'a Small Way of Saying Thank You'
Palworld Warns Players to Fully Remove Old Mods Before 1.0 Launches Tomorrow
Palworld Passes 40 Million Players Ahead of 1.0 Launch on July 10
Have you noticed the redesigns in your own Palbox? Let us know which reworked Pal you think looks the most (or least) convincing in the comments.
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