Gacha game

A gacha game (Japanese: ガチャ ゲーム, Hepburn: gacha gēmu) is a video game that implements the gacha (toy vending machine) mechanic. Similar to loot boxes, gacha games entice players to spend in-game currency to receive a random in-game item. Some in-game currency generally can be gained through game play, and some by purchasing it from the game publisher using real-world funds.

Most gacha games are free-to-play (F2P) mobile games.^[1][2]

The gacha game model began to be widely used in the early 2010s, particularly in Japan.^[1][2] Gacha mechanics have become an integral part of Japanese mobile game culture.^[3] The game mechanism is also increasingly used in Chinese and Korean games, as well as European and American games.^[3][4][5][6]

Gacha games have been criticized for being addictive, and are often compared to gambling due to the incentive to spend real-world money on chance-based rewards.

Model

Price anchoring

A marketing practice where deals of a product are shown to the consumer so they perceive what they are buying as a good deal. This is used in gacha as extra roll deals and virtual currency deals to get the consumer to buy more. Studies show that consumers buy on the basis of the price of a single product and not all of the products prices combined which entrepreneurs take advantage of. Customers only look at the price at hand of a product and compare that to the deal and not the sub charges of the product. In mobile games this is used by a cheap product to set the anchor then the more expensive ones that shows deals making the player feel better for a purchase because they have more value.^[7]

Intermittent rewards system

Makes the player more engaged by giving the player rewards intermediately throughout the game so that the player will work for these rewards in order to get what they desire. Making the player either have to play to get these rewards or paying to get an advantage and getting the rewards without having to play. An example of this is getting a free gacha pull by doing certain tasks in game.^[7]

Near miss tactic

Showing the player rare items that they want, so whenever the player does a gacha pull and does not get the desired item, they would then want to spend more to obtain this item because they feel that they were close to getting it, and that the next roll will get their targeted item. When the player starts a roll it passes by the items in that banner then stops on the item the player obtained while teasing what items were next to or close to the item they got making the player feel as if they have missed the desired item.^[7]

Fear of missing out (FOMO)

Some items are only available for a limited amount of time, incentivizing players to directly purchase or otherwise obtain the item for an in-game power advantage or bragging rights. Limited time events can also condition players to consistently play the game out of fear missing an event or specific item. Daily login rewards can encourage players to open the game each day in order to collect a specific daily reward.^[8]

Rolling/pulling

A gacha game will have collectable characters, cards, or other items. Many of them are obtainable only through a "gacha" mechanic,^[3] wherein the player exchanges in-game currency for "pulls" or "spins", each pull yielding a random collectable "drop". The "pulls" are analogous to spins on a slot machine or roulette wheel.

Some of the "drops" drop less frequently than others. As such, drops can often be categorized into rarity "tiers". Historically, gacha games did not always share their droprates. Those that did so were called "open gacha" and those that did not were "closed gacha". In many jurisdictions it is now legally required for the item rarities to be public information. As such, virtually all contemporary gacha games share this information.

Between rarity and limited-time availability drops, players are incentivized to roll while their desired item is available.^[3]

Spark/Pity System

Some gacha models use an "eventually guaranteed drop" mechanic called "pity" or "spark": the player will be guaranteed a given drop after pulling for it a large number of times without success. This mechanic by itself does not start at the beginning but rather at a fixed point. Pity mechanics can be "soft" or "hard". Depending on the game, these mechanics usually start at a designated pull count and at the very end for that matter. "Soft" pity increases the probability slightly of getting a rare item with every pull, counting up and recalculating the probability until the rare item is received, while "hard" pity uses a counter to keep track of the number of pulls and automatically dispense or allow the item to be purchasable with in game currency after reaching a preset number of rolls.

In-game currency

Gacha games often feature several in-game currencies with intricate conversion methods, obscuring the actual value of non-premium currencies. While players can earn the "premium" currency during gameplay, it is available in strictly limited amounts.

Virtual item

Many kinds of virtual items can be in the loot table for a banner. Gameplay units such as cards, characters, equippable gear, or more abstract loot such as "experience" are all possible.

Login and task rewards

In many games, gacha rewards are essential for players to make progress in the game.^[6] Players are generally given free or discounted gachas in low amounts on a regular schedule, in exchange for logging in or doing in-game tasks.

Common mechanics

Banners

Banners are "pools" of available items (characters, loot, cards, etc) that players can "roll" on. Offered banners can be perpetually available or can have a limited duration. Games generally have some of both, with player retention efforts and in-game advertising emphasizing the limited availability of some or all of the items in the latter.

Limited banners

Sometimes, these banners are limited, such that specific prizes can only be obtained within a specific event time-frame.^[3]

Stamina

Stamina is a resource that is required for, and consumed by, core in-game actions such as (in a fighting-oriented game) beginning combat encounters. It regenerates over time, often only up to a cap. It can typically be regenerated or gained instantly through some form of microtransaction or premium currency spending. The name for this resource is usually different on a per-game basis, but stamina is typically the general term used for this type of currency in general across games.

Variations

This is a list of game mechanics that may be used in a game's implementation of gacha mechanics. Some mechanics are nearly or entirely obsolete due to regulatory requirements.

Mechanic	Description
Complete gacha	"Complete gacha" (コンプリートガチャ), also shortened as "kompu gacha"[9][10] or "compu gacha"[11] (コンプガチャ), is a monetization model popular in Japanese mobile video games until 2012, when it was made illegal by Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency. In this scheme, there are desirable items. The desirable item cannot be rolled for directly. The player must collect (that is, pull) a specific set of other items, and upon completion they unlock the desirable item. The first few items in a set can be rapidly acquired but as the number of missing items decreases it becomes increasingly unlikely that redeeming a loot box will complete the set (see coupon collector's problem) since eventually one single, specific item is required.[10]
Box gacha	Box gacha is "pulling, without replacement". There is a slate of items in the box or banner, in specific quantities rather than via "with replacement", each-roll-is-independent probability. Over successive rolls, the set of possible "draws" shrinks until the player has all of the items.[12][13]
Redraw gacha	Redraw gacha allows the player to "re-roll": to give up the rolled item in exchange for another roll and so a chance at a different result. the gacha, returning their drawn item in exchange for another opportunity to draw, so as to potentially get something else. Some games offer this feature for free.[12] Games commonly offer some free rolls at the start, e.g. during a tutorial. Players might "re-roll" by creating new accounts and doing the starter rolls on each until they get the draws they want.[14]
Consecutive gacha	Consecutive gacha improves the chances of receiving rare rewards when the player spends in bulk. As opposed to spending a set amount for individual rolls, a player can spend a larger amount in order to roll several times in a row for a slightly discounted price.[13]
Step-up gacha	The player's rates are improved for each consecutive roll or instance of spending within a single session or a limited time period (e.g. five checkpoints; must roll five times or spend five times within half an hour to get the rewards for step one, two, three, four, and five in succession.)[13]
Open versus closed gacha	Gacha that show (open) versus hide (closed) the exact probabilities of pulling rare items.[12]

Appeal

Game developers have praised gacha as a free-to-play monetization strategy.^[15][6] Most developers that work primarily with free-to-play games recommend it be incorporated into the game starting with the concept for maximum monetization potential.^[6]

It has been debated what makes gacha so addictive to so many players. Proposed mechanisms include playing on the hunter-gatherer instinct to collect items, as well as the desire to complete a set,^[6] effective use of the "fear of missing out", or, simply the same mechanisms that drive gambling.^[15]

The model of gacha has been compared to that of collectible trading card games as well as to gambling.^[15]

An aspect of monetization commonly found in the financing of gacha games involves a model where a large part of the game's revenue comes from a very small proportion of players who spend an unusually large amount of money on gacha rolls, essentially to subsidize the game for other players who may spend smaller amounts of money, or even free-to-play players that spend no money at all. The high-spending players are often colloquially referred to as "whales". A player who is called a dolphin spends a moderate amount of money on microtransactions in mobile games. A player who is called a minnow spends little to no money on microtransactions in mobile games.^[14][16]

Criticism and controversy

Resemblance to gambling

Gacha games have faced significant criticism for their resemblance to gambling, largely due to their reliance on chance-based mechanics to acquire desirable in-game items. Studies in Europe and the United States indicate that a substantial portion of young players who engage in gacha games develop gambling-like behaviors. For instance, research has shown that over 50% of juveniles who participate in gacha games exhibit some gambling tendencies, with around 5% developing problematic habits and 10% showing early signs of gambling addiction.^[7][17]

The gacha industry has been accused of exploiting addictive behaviors, with a notable percentage of players being students who spend considerable amounts of money on these games despite lacking a steady income.^[7] The European Union Parliament has taken steps to regulate gacha mechanics to protect consumers, citing the exploitative nature of these games.^[18] Some countries, such as Belgium, have banned loot boxes altogether, while others like China require companies to disclose the probabilities of obtaining specific items.^[19]

Players with existing gambling problems are particularly vulnerable to spending excessive amounts of money on gacha games. This is exacerbated by the absence of spending limits, which can lead to significant financial losses. Reports indicate that around 30% of revenue from gacha and loot box mechanics comes from players at moderate to high risk for gambling addiction.^[20]

Despite the controversy, gacha games are not universally considered gambling. For example, the UK's legal framework does not classify gacha as gambling since the virtual items obtained do not have real-world monetary value.^[21] However, the Netherlands Gambling Authority and the Belgium Gaming Commission view gacha as gambling due to its reliance on chance and the potential for items to be traded for real money on third-party sites.^[22]

The addictive nature of gacha games can be attributed to the brain's positive response to randomness and surprise. The anticipation of obtaining a rare or desirable item can create a sense of excitement similar to that experienced in traditional gambling.^[23] While some gacha games are criticized for being "pay-to-win," not all are inherently exploitative. The impact on players largely depends on how the developers implement the gacha mechanics and whether they are essential for game progression or merely provide optional enhancements.^[24]

In response to growing concerns, some jurisdictions have implemented regulations requiring transparency in drop rates and banning particularly exploitative practices. Nevertheless, gacha games continue to be a lucrative business model, generating substantial revenue and sparking ongoing debates about their ethical implications and resemblance to gambling.^{[25][26][27][28][29]}

See also

• List of gacha games

References