Palworld Makes Big Gliding Changes Amid Nintendo Lawsuit

Since its release into early access in 2024, Palworld has continued to deliver content updates to its large community of players. However, the developers at Pocketpair Inc. have also had to remove content recently. Similar to how Pal Spheres were removed from the game in November 2024, Palworld no longer has gliding Pals.

Palworld Removes Gliding Pals Amid Nintendo Lawsuit

Pocketpair Inc. delivered the news on its X account. After thanking the Palworld community for its ongoing support, the tweet delves into the ongoing legal battle between Nintendo and Pocketpair Inc. "Currently, we remain involved in prolonged legal proceedings regarding alleged patent infringement. We continue to dispute these claims and assert the invalidity of the patents in question. However, we have had to make certain compromises in order to avoid disruptions to the development and distribution of Palworld." Nintendo issued a patent infringement in September 2024, stating that Palworld was borrowing too much from the Pokémon franchise. Nintendo's original complaints seemed to target the creature-capturing nature of Pal Spheres being too close to Poké Balls. Again, while Pal Spheres have been removed, it seems that was only the beginning. Pocketpair Inc.'s tweet states that the ability to use gliding Pals has also been removed. With the arrival of Palworld patch 0.5.5, players can no longer use Pals for gliding. Instead, their character can only use a glider. Certain Pals can give passive buffs to a player's gliding, but the Pals will not be directly involved. At this point, we don't know what types of passive buffs will be implemented. However, it is a crushing blow to fans who loved to explore the game with the help of their Pals at all times. It's important to mention that flying on the back of a mount is still possible, but hanging from the feet of a Pal and gliding is gone for good.

How Gliding Pals Used to Work in Palworld

Previously, Palworld allowed players to gently descend to each corner of Palia by gliding with Pals. Players could build a glider, but gliding Pals were a significant upgrade. The game only had four different gliding Pals, but their designs and abilities were tailored to aid a player's gliding ability. These are the Pals that can no longer act as a glider for players, and what bonuses they provided:

• Hangyu: Carried the player up high while gliding.
• Celaray: Allowed the player to move quickly for long periods of time while gliding.
• Killamari: Allowed the player to float for long periods of time while gliding.
• Galeclaw: Allowed the player to fire a gun while gliding.

While that isn't a massive number of Pals, their loss as gliding companions will still be felt by players. The Pals aren't being removed from the game, and they will likely still offer the buffs mentioned above if players keep them in their party. It's unclear how players will create new gliders. However, it seems likely that Pocketpair Inc. will want to salvage as much of the familiar gameplay feel as possible. Similar to how you previously needed to craft the game's basic glider, it's likely that new and more powerful gliders will need to be crafted. This is speculation, of course, and we'll simply need to wait for more info from Pocketpair Inc. as update 0.5.5 gets closer.