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Cease and desist
The Pokémon Company has taken an Australian crypto company to court over the unauthorised use of characters from the Pokémon franchise in an NFT game.
As reported by Vooks, an Australian company called ‘Pokémon Pty Ltd’ (also known as Kotiota Studios) had set up a website advertising an upcoming NFT title called PokéWorld. In addition, Pokémon Pty Ltd had claimed to have worked on official Pokémon titles such as Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Pokémon HOME, and Pokémon Sleep, however The Pokémon Company has clarified that the company is not a contractor for it.
The game itself essentially allows you to choose a starting Pokémon from a sparse list including Pikachu, Charmander, and Eevee. You can then participate in battles to earn recources and “$POKESHARD” currency to assist in the creature’s care. in-game items like clothing, poisons, amulets, and food are minted as NFTs for players to trade on the marketplace. Sounds like an absolute nightmare, if you ask us.
Here’s some more “official” info:
“PokeWorld is a metaverse P2E game filled with fascinating Pokemon that players can collect as pets. Enjoy raising your Pokemon by feeding and evolving them, or watch them take on others in exciting battles! This metaverse has a player-owned economy where players can truly own, buy, sell, and trade in-game resources earned through skilled gameplay and ecosystem contributions.
“Getting started in the game requires researching all available Pokemon to choose the one that you feel the closest to. Remember, it will become your beloved pet that needs care! If you don’t care for its needs, you will doom it to unhappiness, just like a real pet. With your fates now closely intertwined, it is up to you to seek out your Pokemon, bond with it, train, and eventually fulfill your mutual destinies. You’ll only reach the top together, so protect and enrich your Pokemon’s life. The path ahead may be challenging, but you can count on it to be fulfilling!”
Naturally, none of this sat particularly well with The Pokémon Company, who was allegedly tipped off when Pokémon Pty Ltd had the audacity to approach media outlets in an effort to drum up support. The first court hearing occurred on December 21st, 2022 with representatives for The Pokémon Company in attendance, however no one from Pokémon Pty Ltd turned up. Says a lot really, doesn’t it?
Nevertheless, Pokémon Pty Ltd has effectively been barred from using officially licensed Pokémon characters from the media franchise, releasing Pokémon-branded NFTs, and for misrepresenting its relationship with The Pokémon Company.
What do you make of this news? Are you in any way surprised? Let us know with a comment!
[source classic.austlii.edu.au, via vooks.net]
About Ollie Reynolds
Nintendo Life’s resident horror fanatic, when he’s not knee-deep in Resident Evil and Silent Hill lore, Ollie likes to dive into a good horror book while nursing a lovely cup of tea. He also enjoys long walks and listens to everything from Motorhead to BB King.
Comments (16)
Good, destroy all NFT and crypto thieves!
Hopefully it doesn’t give Game Freak an idea though….
I nearly had a heart attack reading that headline since I initially thought it read ‘Pokemon Starts Crypto Company with NFTs’ and quite frankly I don’t think I would’ve been able to handle a blow to my childhood that severe.
I saw this particular NFT be advertised all across sites like Twitter and my immediate first thought was ‘how the hell did they get away with this?’. Glad to see TPCI taking action against stuff like this though (the less NFTs that exist, the better).
Very mixed feelings for those who dislike TPC
Jokes aside, good. Give me an Indeedee or Dedene over an Eneftee or Ayeye PiPi anyday
@martynstuff Yes, I’m aware Clefairys JP name is PiPi
NFT should be annihilated.
Take this!
This time around, I wouldn’t mind if the Nintendo ninja’s strike extra hard.
@martynstuff They didn’t say the magic words of claiming they’re just big fans of Pokemon. That this is TPC just hating the fans.
Because that tends to be the goto excuse for IP theft.
I can’t believe how blatantly this NFT-company was trying brake ALL the trademark rules! They got balls, gotta give them that. Very legally expensive Pokéballs.
I remember a time not so long ago when a few users on here would be defending NFTs as the future. Wonder where they are now. Probably too busy holding the bag to leave comments.
Still can‘t figure out why anyone would consider buying NFTs. Glorified jpegs that are nothing more than a free wallpaper back in 2006. I can‘t imagine anyone picking out an old USB stick from 20 years ago and telling their kids: "Hey, let‘s look at some old NFTs I bought!" – "Yeah dad, p*ss off, I got my VR-suit ready for me."
Did they seriously think Nintendo and TPC were just going to be cool with this?
Imagine thinking you wouldn’t go bankrupt from this stunt.
Readers having an existential crisis because they don’t know whether to bash NFTs or the Pokemon Company
@Fazermint Why not both?
And all of this not even somewhere deep in China where foreign IP lawsuits may still seem comparatively dismissable, but… in Australia? How long did they even expect to go on?
YOU DESERVE IT
five claps
YOU DESERVE IT
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