The Secret of "Game Empire": The Miracle of Palworld Orchestrated by the Founder of Japan's Largest Cryptocurrency Exchange

The blockbuster hit of 2024, “Palworld,” created by a team of just four developers, is shaking up the gaming industry. Dominating the Steam charts, it sold 2 million copies within 24 hours of release and over 8 million copies in just six days—an achievement that fundamentally challenges the concept of indie games.

However, behind this phenomenon is a highly unconventional figure in Japan’s cryptocurrency industry—Takuro Mizobe. As a co-founder of Pocket Pair, his X profile lists “Coincheck Founder,” highlighting his rare entrepreneurial background spanning both the gaming industry and the digital asset world.

Takuro Mizobe’s Unconventional Career Path: From Fintech to Game Creation

After graduating from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Takuro Mizobe began his career as an engineer at Morgan Stanley. Upon returning to Japan in 2014, he co-founded RejuPress Inc. with a partner, serving as Chief Engineer overseeing network product development and legal management.

This technical foundation and financial expertise led to the creation of Japan’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Coincheck. In less than three years, Coincheck captured approximately 40% of the Japanese yen trading market share—growing into one of Japan’s leading digital asset platforms.

However, in January 2018, Coincheck suffered a major incident when hackers stole about 5 billion NEM tokens (worth approximately $530 million). This event, along with the Mt.Gox incident, left an indelible scar on Japan’s cryptocurrency history. Subsequently, Monex Group acquired Coincheck for 3.6 billion yen, and the founding management team was forced to step down.

A Major Shift from Finance to Gaming

Having stepped away from the cryptocurrency business through Monex’s acquisition, Takuro Mizobe chose a completely different field. In 2015, he established Pocket Pair, focusing solely on game planning, development, and operation.

Koichi Wada, co-founder of Coincheck, commented on this career shift: “When we decided to ‘make games,’ we almost completely abandoned Coincheck development and dedicated ourselves to game creation.” His words when Palworld surpassed 2 million copies reflect the weight and resolve behind the founders’ decision.

The Gaming Experience of Palworld: Fulfilling the Pokémon Dream

What sets Palworld apart from other games is its relationship with creatures called “Pals.” It goes beyond simple encyclopedia collection or combat training—players fight alongside and live with their Pals, fulfilling a long-held dream of many Pokémon fans.

Pals can transform into weapons, vehicles, and tools. This high degree of freedom, combined with the high-quality game design achieved on a low budget, will likely be remembered as an innovative success story in the indie game scene.

Expectations for the Fusion of Cryptocurrency and Gaming

Notably, Coincheck’s past initiatives include partnerships with blockchain game development platform Enjin in September 2020, launching Japan’s first NFT trading marketplace “Coincheck NFT” by the end of that year, and working on NFT creation for “Minecraft.”

In 2022, Coincheck supported NFT land transactions in the metaverse platform Decentraland. Additionally, in October of the same year, it formed a strategic partnership with Animoca Brands to deepen collaboration in the blockchain gaming space.

If Mizobe Takuro’s digital asset infrastructure built at Coincheck combines with Palworld’s game development capabilities, there is a strong potential to create a new economic zone beyond mere game popularity. With crypto VCs like Animoca Brands heavily investing in gaming and NFTs, the future scenario of Palworld expanding into the crypto asset world is not just a dream.

The unconventional background of the founder may produce unexpected synergies—perhaps a new story is beginning at the intersection of the gaming industry and the digital asset industry.