The Pokemon Company seeks a public apology and financial damages from six Chinese companies for “copyright infringement and unfair competition.”
Pokémon, a newcomer to China
It is only recently that Pokémon has begun to officially establish itself in the Chinese market, since Pokémon Sun and Moon, released in 2016, were the first games to receive an official port in China.
Even after so many years without official game releases, Pokémon is immensely popular in China, and so it’s no surprise that Pocket Monster Reissue is making millions every year.
Pocket Monster Reissue
Pocket Monster Reissue is a mobile game where you collect (not) Pokemon, and battle them in a turn-based battle system. The graphics bear similarities to popular characters from the Pokémon franchise.
While some gameplay videos show original monsters, some artwork is clearly a copy, as you can see in the artwork below reported by eurogamer.
Pocket Monster Reissue has been distributed on major Chinese app stores since 2015 and would have brought more than $4 million per month in its first yearto finally reach the 300 million yuan (about $43 million) so faraccording to a stock market filing from one of the companies that worked on the game, Jiangyin Zhongnan Heavy Industries Co.
The Pokémon Company is therefore asking for more $72 million in damages and demands a public apology on major social media platforms, as well as game sales websites and apps.
The website Kotaku has contacted Nintendo for comment, but has not received a response as of this writing.