Genshin Impact Dev May Face Same Patent Issue That Got Palworld Sued by Nintendo

The latest game from Genshin Impact developer HoYoverse could be facing the same patent issue that got Palworld sued by Nintendo. Early footage from the title, Honkai: Nexus Anima, suggests it may be infringing on one of the patents central to the ongoing Palworld lawsuit.

Honkai: Nexus Anima is a creature-collection game that HoYoverse first teased in May 2025. It features Genshin Impact‘s Traveler character and gacha mechanics. The title was officially announced in late August 2025, when HoYoverse also confirmed plans for a Honkai: Nexus Anima beta test.

Honkai: Nexus Anima Might Infringe on Nintendo’s Creature-Switching Patent

As the beta applications opened, the Chinese developer shared some gameplay footage, which shows several characters riding a variety of flying and ground creatures. According to Games Fray‘s patent analyst Florian Mueller, the footage shows that Honkai: Nexus Anima “clearly infringes” on the creature-switching patent at the center of Nintendo’s ongoing lawsuit against Palworld.

Nintendo’s Palworld lawsuit recently took a highly unusual turn when the company amended its creature-switching patent during the proceedings. The revised patent, JP7528390, expands the original claims, which focused on smooth switching between rideable objects, to cover a system for summoning and boarding aerial mounts in a wider variety of scenarios. Although the Honkai: Nexus Anima footage cuts between scenes in a way that makes it unclear whether it supports “smooth” switching between mounts, under Nintendo’s revision that detail may no longer be required.

new honkai game featuring blade and a monster

Many More Games Could Be Infringing on Nintendo’s Broadened Patent

The chances of Nintendo suing HoYoverse over this patent like it did Pocketpair are currently unclear. Looking at the bigger picture, the possibility of Honkai: Nexus Anima potentially infringing on the company’s intellectual property underscores the extensive nature of its recent amendment. “Nintendo changed the patent in a way that makes it broader and, therefore, a greater threat to the games industry at large,” Mueller asserted. In a prior statement to Game Rant, the analyst labeled the Palworld lawsuit as “a clear case of bullying.”

Nintendo changed the patent in a way that makes it broader and, therefore, a greater threat to the games industry at large.

Pocketpair previously argued that Palworld never implemented the type of creature-switching described in Nintendo’s original patent. This appears to have been what prompted Nintendo to amend JP7528390 with a broader definition of its purported innovation. If the Japan-based patent isn’t invalidated, many more titles could be found to infringe on it. However, should Pocketpair successfully defend itself in court, invalidation—or at least patent narrowing—would be a realistic possibility. Nintendo has recently also moved to secure a similar patent in the United States but has yet to use it to take the case international.