Palworld
Image: Pocketpair / Sony

If you managed to catch Sony's latest State of Play broadcast, then you'll know that Pocketpair's Palworld has scored a shadow drop release on PS5. At least, in some countries, that is.

Y'see, the game's launch has been indefinitely delayed in Japan. As detailed in a social media post from the Japanese Palworld account, its release date in the region has "not yet been decided" (thanks, Push Square).

"As announced in the official PlayStation "State of Play", the PS5 version of "Palworld" was released today in 68 countries and regions around the world. In Japan, the release date has not yet been decided.

"We apologize to everyone in Japan who was looking forward to it, but all of our staff will do our best to deliver it to PS5 users as soon as possible, so we would appreciate your patience for a little while longer. We hope you will continue to support "Palworld"."

Now, the reasoning behind the delay is not specified, but we have to imagine that it probably has something to do with Nintendo's recent patent lawsuit against developer Pocketpair. The firm alleges that Palworld "infringes multiple patent rights", though at the time of writing, we (and even Pocketpair, it seems) are inaware of what these may be.

Pocketpair has confirmed that it will endeavour to release Palworld in Japan "as soon as possible", but with Nintendo's lawsuit casting a shadow over the game's release elsewhere, we'd be remiss to even attempt to predict a potential release date at this time.

Do you think Palworld's PS5 release in Japan is being hampered by Nintendo's lawsuit? Share your thoughts with a comment down below.

[source x.com, via pushsquare.com]