Nintendo has secured a new patent in the United States regarding a very particular video game mechanic. And this would all be fine and dandy if it weren’t a mechanic present in thousands of games out there, which could give Nintendo an impressive and unfair advantage.

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Patent 12,403,397, granted to Nintendo on Sept. 2, could potentially become one of the most dangerous tools a corporation has ever had in gaming. With the swipe of a pen, Nintendo now holds a common video game mechanic, found in hundreds of titles, in its proprietary hands.

This patent, which Nintendo gained without any resistance from regulators whatsoever since being filed in March 2023, is about summoning monsters to fight others for you and having control over that monster if no enemy is nearby.

While some would argue this is to do with Pokémon and how those little critters conduct battle, the issue lies in the broadness of the patent’s descriptions, meaning it could very well be applied to countless other games where you summon creatures to fight on your behalf (and can control them manually).

The new patent regards summoned monsters fighting enemies, either on their own or by being commanded by the player. Image via Nintendo

As per Windows Central, these are the criteria the patent outlines:

  • The game in question is stored on a drive on a computer, whether a PC or a console.
  • The main character can be controlled in a virtual environment.
  • A “sub character” can be summoned into this virtual space, who can fight enemy units either automatically or via your own command. And if there’s no enemy, this sub character can move around or be controlled until an enemy emerges for them to fight.

As Windows Central itself pointed out, hundreds of games could be argued to have these mechanics, which are now Nintendo’s proprietary property, so many titles out there could now be “infringing” upon them. While patents or legislation cannot be applied retroactively, the patent’s March 2023 filing means a lot of games that have come out since could be adversely impacted by it.

For example, ARPG games like Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2 have Necromancer and Summoner build paths you can pursue, where your whole shtick is having summoned monsters to fight on your behalf. So many other games have similar mechanics, especially RPGs, MMOs, and titles in the fantasy genre, where Necromancers crop up more often than not.

Hell, even the likes of Baldur’s Gate 3 and its turn-based formula could be quite striking “infringements” of this so-called patent.

Nintendo now has the position to force competitors into submission by using a patent way too broad to be just about pocket monsters and Nintendo’s pursuit of Palworld.

Palworld kickstarted Nintendo’s rapid-fire patent acquisition. Image via Pocketpair

And don’t just take my word for it. Per PC Gamer, video game patent lawyer Kirk Sigmon commented on this latest Nintendo patent development, saying these patents should not have been granted. He also said it’s highly unusual that Nintendo saw little to no pushback whatsoever regarding these patents.

“I have no earthly idea how the Examiner could, in good faith, allow this application so quickly,” he said.

He added, “bad patents” like the one in question “cast a massive shadow on the industry.”

“In my opinion, none of the three patents I’ve discussed here should have been allowed. It’s shocking and offensive that they were.”

Whether or not Nintendo uses these patents just for the purpose of its Palworld lawsuits, or to bully the entire industry into bowing before it for the most basic gameplay mechanic there is, remains to be seen. The publisher has been wont to pursue legal action for things great and small, and this patent, as broad as it is, gives it legal firepower like few corporations have ever had.

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