Palworld Entertainment has named LA’s The Loyal Subjects as the first toy partner for its namesake survival game Palworld—which has been mired in controversy since its debut. 

TLS will kick off the partnership next year by rolling out limited releases of action figures, collectibles and plush that consumers can purchase during the spring comic convention season, followed closely by major retail launches planned throughout North America in late summer and early fall. Company CEO Jonathan Cathey sees Palworld as the next big thing for retailers, given the game’s strong base of more than 32 million players worldwide and rich roster of 200-plus Pal monsters to collect. 

This deal comes just as Japanese game developer Pocketpair is gearing up to launch the full version of Palworld next year, following two years of early-access development. In the game, players take on the role of castaways who wind up on the Palpagos Islands and must capture its monster inhabitants to battle other creatures, forage materials for survival, build bases and defend the ecosystem from crime syndicates. 

Palworld has taken off quickly since its 2024 debut, with Sony Music Entertainment and anime producer Aniplex forming a joint-venture with Pocketpair called Palworld Entertainment last year to expand the IP beyond gaming into entertainment, consumer products and experiences. 

But its arrival hasn’t been received well by everyone. As soon as the game debuted, industry pundits noted some obvious similarities between Palworld and the Pokémon franchise. And a year ago, The Pokémon Company International and parentco Nintendo filed a lawsuit against Pocketpair, alleging that the title infringed upon three of their game mechanic patents. 

That case is still ongoing, but PocketPair has since made several changes designed to distance Palworld from the Pokémon franchise, including removing the Pal Spheres that function similarly to Poké Balls, and removing the ability for players to fly on their Pals in-game.

Against the lawsuit backdrop, Nintendo secured an additional patent in the US this month that protects it from third-party developers letting in-game characters summon a “sub-character” to support them in a battle. This move has made many in the gaming industry uneasy, because it’s a common mechanic used not just in Palworld, but also in Persona, Digimon, TemTem, Final Fantasy and Monster Hunter. Now developers are left wondering whether they’ll be slapped with a lawsuit next for employing common gameplay systems that have been in use for years.