When we think about the best jobs evs, working at The Pokémon Company has to be up there. However, with a team so large, how could you possibly know where the most fun is had? Well, thanks to a new report from The Guardian which takes a look at the internal workings of Creatures Inc, focusing on card production, it seems that we might have just found it.
Now, we have covered how Pokémon cards are made on the site before, but what we didn't know about was the team of 18 internal game testers whose job it is to rigorously put new and upcoming cards through their paces. Yes, they play with Pokémon cards. For a job.
The Guardian had the chance to talk to two of the testers, Kohei Kobayashi and Satoru Inoue, when visiting Creatures Inc and the pair shared some of the enviable features of their job. The article notes that the team will test new cards for a month or two before their general release, playing up to four battles an hour for at least seven hours a day. Seems like a pretty nice way to spend the working day, we'd say.
Kobayashi goes on to explain how he picks people to become an internal game tester, citing "passion and knowledge" as the key aspects of a successful applicant — though you have to know (or, at least, be able to learn) the details of every single card, too. You might think that this makes pro players the ideal people for the job, but Kobayashi notes that he'd rather keep them in the competitive space:
I never hire or scout anyone at the world championships, because I want to leave the strong players as they are. They really shine when they are out there competing, so I don’t want to ruin that.
The full feature from The Guardian also goes into detail about the process of designing the cards' gorgeous art, the company's views on collecting vs. battling, and how the TCG can match up to the likes of Magic the Gathering and Disney's Lorcana, so be sure to check it out!
There are several great-sounding jobs out there — we consistently feel lucky to spend our days writing about video games — and playing the Pokémon TCG for a living sure does appear to be right up there. Now, if you'll excuse us, we're off to brush up on our Pokémon knowledge...