One of the latest patches for Palworld removed the ability to summon captured creatures by throwing special spheres onto the field. Developers have not commented on the change, but it's speculated online that it was made due to a legal dispute with the Pokémon franchise owners.
Palworld
As a reminder, in September, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company filed a lawsuit against the creators of Palworld, accusing them of infringing three patents. The patents mentioned mechanics for capturing and summoning creatures using a sphere. For patent violations, the companies demanded Pocketpair pay 10 million yen (approximately $65,160).
According to Niche Gamer, the creators of Palworld may have removed the controversial mechanic to avoid a negative outcome in the litigation.
Interestingly, Palworld still allows capturing creatures in spheres — a mechanic Pocketpair has not decided to remove. It remains unknown if developers plan to eliminate it in the future.