Palworld Studio Requires Game Designer Applicants to Submit Steam Playtime Screenshots During Hiring

Image credit: Valve / Pocketpair

Pocketpair, the studio behind the breakout hit Palworld, has implemented an unconventional hiring practice. According to CEO Takuro Mizobe, candidates must provide screenshots of their Steam play history before even making it past the resume stage.

Mizobe explained on his personal X account that “we ask game designer candidates to submit screenshots of their playtime history on Steam. In fact, if you don’t play games on Steam at all, you won’t make it past the resume screening stage.”

The reasoning behind this, he added, is to ensure that new hires are true Steam gamers.

The requirement goes beyond simply ticking boxes. During interviews, applicants face detailed questioning about the games they've spent the most time playing. They're expected to break down game mechanics, explain design decisions behind specific systems, and articulate what makes those titles stand out from others in their genre.

While Mizobe mentioned that players with substantial hours on PlayStation 5 or Xbox are welcome to submit their console playtime data, Steam remains the company's top priority.

"We also ask people who are playing a large number of games on PS5, Xbox, etc., to submit those as well. However, if the number of Steam games played is 0, we basically pass on them," Mizobe explained in a follow-up post. "We want our colleagues to be playing indie games that are only available on Steam."

While the approach might seem unusual compared to typical hiring practices, it reflects Mizobe’s philosophy. According to Automaton, Mizobe previously shared how his team designed Palworld by drawing from extensive experience with acclaimed Steam titles like Terraria, ARK: Survival Evolved, Minecraft, Valheim, and many others in similar genres.

That strategy clearly paid off considering Palworld's explosive success after launching in early access in January 2024, selling over 8 million copies within six days and attracting 32 million players in its first year.

Pocketpair’s Head of Publishing, John “Bucky” Buckley, also weighed in, saying, “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.”

The studio continues building on Palworld's momentum while preparing for its full 1.0 release planned for 2026. They're also developing Palworld: Palfarm, an online co-op farming sim, and a physical trading card game launching this June.

Despite ongoing legal battles with Nintendo and The Pokemon Company over patent disputes that began in September 2024, Pocketpair shows no signs of slowing down their ambitious expansion plans.