Palworld struggled to find a dev with shooter experience in Japan before stumbling on a self-taught hobbyist who worked at a convenience store

Palworld Ancient Civilization Parts - Grizzbolt with a minigun.

Only five days post-launch, Palworld has sold over seven million copies and become the second game ever to log over two million concurrent players on Steam. Its unexpectedly absurd level of success has led to much speculation over the source of its appeal—as well as some condemnation—but the notion that it's "Pokémon with guns," while not exactly accurate, must be at least part of the answer.

Finding someone to design Palworld's firearms was apparently a challenge for Japanese developer Pocketpair, though.