Palworld developer Pocketpair has an interesting way of screening job candidates. The Japanese game studio requires those applying for game designer positions to submit screenshots of their Steam libraries as part of the hiring process.
In a recent tweet on X / Twitter, CEO Takuro Mizobe shed some light on how Pocketpair hires new game designer talent (as spotted by Automaton). Mizobe explained that Pocketpair has prospective game designers submit screenshots of their Steam play history. Furthermore, Mizobe noted that applicants who don’t use Valve’s game platform don’t get considered for interviews: “Those who haven’t played anything on Steam don’t pass the document screening stage.”
There is a reason why Pocketpair wants to see what their job applicants are playing though. As Mizobe explained: “in the interview, we question candidates about the top most-played titles in their Steam libraries, for example, we ask them to explain the game mechanics, to say why they think specific mechanics were adopted, and what makes the game stand out against others in the same genre. Pocketpair is recruiting game creators who are true Steam players!”
In a follow-up post, Mitobe said that while applicants who are prolific console players are also encouraged to submit their Playstation, Xbox, or Nintendo Switch play data, Steam is still the priority. “We basically turn down those who have played zero Steam games,” Mitobe explained. “We want our colleagues to be playing indie games that are only available on Steam.”
This makes sense considering Pocketpair’s background as an indie developer whose main distribution platform so far has been Steam. The developer’s biggest hit Palworld, as well as its previous game Craftopia, have their main playerbase on Valve’s platform.
In a post on social media, Pocketpair Head of Publishing and Communications John “Bucky” Buckley weighed in on the CEO’s comments: “So hilariously true. When I first joined, I was grilled if I knew games like Slay the Spire. Pocketpair is a company that truly is built by gamers, and our CEO is very adamant to keep it that way.”
Launching in open access on Steam and Xbox back in January 2024, Palworld skyrocketed in popularity, selling over 8 million copies in just six days and amassing over 25 million players in its first month. It wasn’t long before Pocketpair teamed up with Sony to launch Palworld Entertainment with the aim of expanding the new IP.
Pocketpair is continuing to build upon Palworld’s success. As well as updates to the game, it is currently developing Palworld: Palfarm, an upcoming online co-op farming sim set in the same universe. In a surprise announcement last week, it revealed that Palworld is also getting its own physical Trading Card game, which is set to drop this June.
At the same time, Palworld is the subject of an ongoing lawsuit between Pocketpair and Nintendo/The Pokemon Company. Since the dispute kicked off in September 2024, there have been numerous developments, such as Nintendo rewriting a patent mid-lawsuit, arguing that mods should not count as prior art, and getting their monster-capture patent rejected. The case is expected to continue this year even as Pocketpair works towards the 1.0 release of Palworld.
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.
