Nintendo sues "Pokemon-with-guns" game maker
And, Kalki 2898 AD's co-producers could be unveiling a movie franchise model that could give rise to more financially successful film franchises from India.
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Hello there,
Japan-based video game giant Nintendo, seems to be flexing its legal muscle again. This time breakout game Palworld’s creator Pocketpair Inc. is at the receiving end of a patent infringement lawsuit.
Also, sisters Swapna and Priyanka Dutt seem to have figured out a roadmap for creating a commercially successful film franchise model that could nudge audiences, in India and international countries, to shell out some moolah.
Let’s dive in!
Gaming
Nintendo,
the Japanese video game giant, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against a game called Palworld. Also, dubbed as "Pokémon with guns" the survival-adventure game became a breakout hit since its release in January this year.
Players of the game have to catch giant-sized, distorted and scary looking Pokémons, who become their "pals". And, if a player trains and treats their pals right then their survival chances increase.
Nintendo is seeking compensation and is also giving an authoritative warning to Palworld's creator Pocketpair Inc. Based on Tokyo, Pocketpair was founded in 2015 and has a much smaller team compared to over 150-years-old Nintendo's. The Mario-maker has not specified patents infringed by Pocketpair.
This Japan game industry analyst says it is “cold blooded business” from Nintendo’s end.
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Also,
Nazara Technologies, one of India’s biggest gaming companies, is raising Rs 900 crore (US $180 million), through preferential equity offering, from existing and new investors.
Founded in 2000, the listed company operates real-money game PokerBaazi and content and advertising platform Sportskeeda, and operates in casual gaming, e-sports and out-of-home entertainment category.
Understand more about the nitty-gritties of this gaming fundraise here.
Film franchise creation recipe:
Looks like Kalki 2898 AD’s co-producers are unveiling an Indianised recipe
for franchise creation.
Sister Swapna and Priyanka Dutt, with Vyjayanthi Movies’ founder and their father C Aswani Dutt, created the biggest box office film in India of 2024 so far. And, Swapna and Priyanka are in no mood to slow down.
They aim on telling Kalki Cinematic Universe’s stories across cinemas halls, video streaming platforms, games and merchandise, according to Forbes India.
The Deepika Padukone-starrer could also get a Japanese release during the early months of 2025. Japan is emerging as a potentially sizeable market for Telugu films after the release and commercial success of two Baahubali films (2015-2017) and RRR (2022). Kalki is the fourth film to be released in Japan in less than a decade.
“We will keep building this cinematic universe and other spin-offs as long as we have the energy,” Priyanka said to Forbes India.
But the path to Kalki’s success came with its own set of challenges that delayed the film’s release by about six months. Vyjayanthi Movies’ also footed a ₹600 crore (US $71.5 million) production bill and spent close to five years in making the film.
A sequel to Kalki 2898 AD is already in development with the main cast including Padukone, Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan set to reprise their characters.
Priyanka and Swapna are second-generation producers leading the 50 year-old Telugu film production house Vyjayanthi Movies. Before Kalki the sisters produced Sita Raman (2022) under Swapna Cinema, and Kumari Srimathi (2023), a Telugu drama series streaming on Amazon Prime Video, under Early Monsoon Tales.
More movie franchise recipe details here.
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