‘Pocket Monster: Remake’ Chinese Mobile Knock-Off Developers Settle Copyright Case With The Pokémon Company, Paying Almost $15 Million And Further “Substantial Economic Price”
Developers of the lucrative knock-off Pocket Monster: Remake have agreed to settle with The Pokémon Company over their copyright infringement and unfair competition. They will be paying almost $15 million and more, disclosed only as being a “substantial economic price.”
In an official statement on their corporate website, The Pokémon Company explained that they had reached “a mediated settlement” with the developers of Pocket Monster: Remake (also known as The Pocket Journey). “Going forward, The Pokémon Company will continue to take all necessary steps to protect its intellectual properties, to enable its users worldwide to enjoy all Pokémon contents with complete peace of mind,” the company closed.
Their statement included a formal apology from the developers — Guangzhou Maichi Network Technology Co., Ltd., and Khorgos Fangchi Network Technology Co., Ltd. The apology gives more insight into the case, but only hints at how much the settlement was for.
The developers explained they released Pocket Monster: Remake via its subsidiaries in July 2015. In December 2021, The Pokémon Company filed a lawsuit with the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court, in Guangzhou, China.
“The first-instance judgment ruled that the company was liable for the claimed copyright infringement and unfair competition, and ordered the company to pay damages in the amount of 107 million Chinese yuan [$14.756 million USD] to TPC,” the developers explained.
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“The case was heard in the second instance on December 18th, 2024, and under the mediation of the High People’s Court of Guangdong Province, TPC, and we reached a settlement on the issue of compensation,” the developers confessed, yet not specifying how much the settlement was for.
After groveling apologies, the developers admitted their game “extensively used design elements” of the official Pokémon games, and took advantage of the series’ fame and reputation.
“Our copyright infringement and acts of unfair competition have caused significant economic losses to the rights holders and severely damaged the image of the original Pokémon video games. We hereby sincerely apologize to TPC and
other rights holders, as well as the vast number of players, consumers, and the general public,” the developers pled.
That “significant” loss is likely irrespective of the Pokémon franchise being the highest-grossing of all time, with estimated figures between $95 to $98 billion to date.
“The game has now been completely removed from the market, and operations have ceased. At the same time, we
have paid a substantial economic price and incurred significant reputational damage,” the developers somewhat revealed. “We have deeply reflected on it and learned our lessons.”
The statement concluded with the developers insisting they will avoid copyright infringement and unfair competition in the future.
Pocket Monster: Remake was blatant in their copying, as seen in surviving gameplay footage online. The gameplay appears to be an extremely cut-down version of the mainline Pokémon games, where players fight wild Pokémon and opposing trainers. Pokémon can be caught, and powered up with numerous items.
Alongside typical mobile game mechanics (log-in bonuses, limited “energy” to spend on actions, and numerous purchases), the game utilizes assets from Pokémon media. Along with poorly compressed music and sound effects from the official games, there was crudely redrawn art assets. There were also clashing art styles depending if the art was from promotional material for the games, anime, or even from fan-art.
Some are outright baffling, such as a “Squirtle,” which in some instances is actually a Wartortle with its fluffy tail and ears removed.
Videos also show poorly translated versions of the dialogue and text usually found in the game. Pokémon are “used” instead of being sent out, the Normal type is instead “Usual,” and the trainer type Lass is humorously called “Mini Skirt.” What appears to be earlier versions have even worse English translation and text-to-speech dialogue.
While easy to balk that no one could mistake these as official games, it should be noted Pocket Monster: Remake made quite a bit of money. Ann Cao of The South China Morning Post reported that the game had made over $41 million a year after it launched.
“In 2021, the company’s revenue rose 24.5 percent year-on-year to 481.6 million yuan [$66.4 million USD], while net income surged nearly 58 per cent to 207.2 million yuan [$28.575 million USD],” Cao recapped.
At the time of the report, September 2022, The Pokémon Company was seeking damages of $72.5 million. One can only imagine how close the “substantial economic price” is to this figure.
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