A week after Palworld developer Pocketpair removed the ability for players to glide using Pals in response to Nintendo’s ongoing lawsuit, a modder has restored the feature on PC. That’s as Pocketpair confirms Palworld’s Terraria collaboration will launch this “summer”.
Pocketpair confirmed it had removed Pal-based gliding from Palworld earlier this month, saying it had been forced to make “yet another compromise” due to Nintendo’s ongoing patent infringement claim. Nintendo launched legal action against the studio last September, saying it was seeking “an injunction against infringement and compensation for damages on the grounds that Palworld… infringes multiple patent rights”.
Several patents – which Nintendo and The Pokémon Company seemingly filed onto pre-existing “parent” patents after the release of Palworld – lie at the heart of the case, all relating to specific gameplay mechanics. These include the ability to capture digital creatures by throwing a catching item and the ability to subsequently ride on them.
First signs Pocketpair might be forced to capitulate to Nintendo arrived last December, when the developer axed the ability to catch Pals by throwing Pokéball-style Pal Spheres in a small update. Then, the ability to glide using Pals was removed earlier this month, with the studio saying the changes – which instead added gliders as a useable inventory item – were “necessary in order to prevent further disruptions” to development.
Now, though, one modder has moved to reinstate the gliding feature on PC. As spotted by Dexerto, Primarinabee’s Glider Restoration mod is now available via Nexus Mods and specifically designed “for those of you who love flying with your pals.” Primarinabee says the mod “uses sleight of hand to reverse the sleight-of-hand ‘removal’ of gliding pals,” but notes player will still need a glider in their inventory to make it work. “It’s not quite perfect,” they add, “but it basically reverses Patch 0.5.5 without requiring you to forego future game updates”.
Despite Nintendo’s lawsuit, early access development of Palworld continues, and Pocketpair has now revealed its previously announced Terraria collaboration will launch for Xbox, PlayStation, and PC this “summer”. Dubbed Tides of Terraria, it’ll enable players to “catch, train, fight, and work” monsters from developer Re-Logic’s hugely popular sandbox action-adventure “just like Pals”. Pocketpair is also promising non-Terraria-themed additions in the update, including new Pals and new islands, with more to be shared “over the next few weeks”.