The Nintendo and The Pokémon Company’s ongoing patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair’s Palworld has stirred up much debate among game developers and players alike. However, former Capcom game developer Yoshiki Okamoto’s recent YouTube video, in which he made comments seemingly against Pocketpair and Palworld, has sparked a strong backlash from viewers.
Current chairman of the Japan Game Culture Foundation, Yoshiki Okamoto has worked in the game industry for over 40 years, with a varied resume which includes Street Fighter 2, the first Resident Evil, and hit mobile game Monster Strike. He also created the original concept for what would become Rockstar’s Red Dead Revolver.
In a YouTube video posted on his channel on September 27, Okamoto gave his opinions on the ongoing Nintendo vs. Pocketpair lawsuit, saying that Palworld had "crossed a line that should not be crossed, and I don't want the world to become a place where this kind of thing is acceptable."
Later in the video, Okamoto said that “if a settlement is reached with Nintendo, then I think it (Palworld) will become a game that is officially fine to play. However, it is currently a game that’s being sued so it’s unacceptable. By playing the game you are supporting it, so please don’t buy it.”
This comment and his labelling of Pocketpair as an “anti-xxxx” (Okamoto bleeped out and distorted the last kanji character of the word in both the audio and subtitle in the video) prompted a flood of criticism in the comments — and many did not hold back. The majority of commenters interpreted Okamoto’s half-obscured term as “hansha” or “anti-social force” (an abbreviated term often used to describe criminal organizations like the yakuza, and groups that operate in ways that go against the proper and/or legal way of doing things). One commenter pointed out that calling Pocketpair an “anti-social force” could be considered defamation. They then added, “On the other hand, your argument that ‘people should stop playing games with questionable content because this equates to supporting them’ is convincing,” before announcing that these words made them decide to quit playing Okamoto’s Monster Strike after nearly 20 years. Other user reactions included, “I think assuming something is bad just because it has been sued is wrong,” and, “No matter how much you dislike (Pocketpair and Palworld), calling them anti-social is crossing a line.”
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