As an open-world game, “Palworld” has recently become extremely popular online, surpassing 8 million in sales in less than 6 days. It was discovered that one of its co-founders, Takuro Mizobe, was previously the founder of the well-known Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck.
Recently, the open-world game “Palworld” has become a hit online and has become the first breakout hit game of 2024. Despite some skepticism from Pokemon fans, it firmly occupies the top spot in Steam’s game rankings. It sold over 1 million copies in 8 hours and over 2 million copies in 24 hours. In less than 6 days, it has exceeded 8 million in sales.
In the game “Palworld,” various magical creatures that inhabit different areas are collectively called Palu. Players can capture Palu as partners using Palu Balls. These partner Palu can not only fight alongside players but also transform into weapons, mounts, and even tools. This gameplay is somewhat similar to Nintendo’s game “Pokemon,” but Palworld does not emphasize the evolution of differences, RPG development, and strategic battles. Instead, it emphasizes the sense of companionship of living and fighting together with the character Palu, which is exactly the gameplay that Pokemon fans have always dreamed of.
With the increasing popularity of the game, people have become curious about this low-cost game with only four early developers. It was discovered that Takuro Mizobe, the co-founder of Palworld’s publishing company Pocket Pair, had previously founded a cryptocurrency trading platform. Takuro’s X account profile also identifies him as the “Coincheck Founder.”
A search of Takuro Mizobe’s resume revealed that he graduated from the top science university in Japan, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and worked as an engineer at Morgan Stanley after graduation. In 2014, he returned to Japan and co-founded the company Kabushiki Kaisha Rejupuresu. As the chief engineer, Takuro Mizobe used his technical background and financial knowledge to develop online products and manage legal agreements, launching Coincheck’s trading business.
Within three years, Coincheck’s yen trading volume accounted for about 40% of the Japanese market, making it one of the largest cryptocurrency trading platforms in Japan at the time. Although you may still be unfamiliar with this name, Coincheck was once the most popular trading platform in Japan.
In January 2018, Coincheck was hacked, resulting in a loss of approximately 500 million NEM tokens (about $530 million). Together with Mt. Gox, it became a permanent scar in the history of Japanese cryptocurrency. Subsequently, under the supervision of Japanese financial institutions, Coincheck compensated nearly 90% of the users’ losses. In April of the same year, the Monex Group announced the acquisition of all shares of Coincheck for 3.6 billion yen (about $33.5 million).
This acquisition allowed Coincheck to be taken over completely, and the founding management team withdrew completely. Since then, there has been no explicit mention of Takuro Mizobe in relation to Coincheck. Recently, another co-founder of Coincheck, Koichiro Wada, also posted on X saying that they have almost completely abandoned Coincheck because of Pocket Pair.
Koichiro Wada, co-founder of Coincheck, commented on Takuro Mizobe celebrating Palworld’s sales exceeding 2 million:
Takuro Mizobe founded the game publishing company Pocket Pair in 2015 and is responsible for the game planning, development, and operation of Palworld. Considering his connection with Coincheck, it may be expected that there is a possibility of integration between Palworld and cryptocurrency. This is not unprecedented. In September 2020, Coincheck announced a collaboration with the blockchain game development platform Enjin to launch Japan’s first NFT trading market, “Coincheck NFT,” by the end of the year. It also established NFTs for the game “Minecraft.”
In March 2022, Coincheck NFT announced its support for NFT land transactions on the metaverse platform Decentraland. On Decentraland’s virtual land, Coincheck plans to launch a project to create a virtual city called “Oasis KYOTO” in 2035, and announced that this project will be used as a place for communication and community development between artists and fans.
In October of the same year, Coincheck reached a strategic partnership with Animoca Brands. Animoca Brands will be responsible for IP and content development as a blockchain game developer, while Coincheck will play a role in distribution and community development in the Japanese market. The two parties will also establish communities for creators and users.
Animoca Brands has always been focused on games and NFT races in the crypto VC field. If Palworld’s popularity continues, it may be expected whether Palworld will enter the crypto field.
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