Five top gacha monetization mechanics for hunting "whales"
Dr. Serkan Toto, an analyst at Kantan Games studio, spoke about the varieties of gacha and how this mechanic helps Japanese developers hunt “whales”. We have translated the text, supplemented it – and we share it with you.
To begin with, a little bit about what gacha is. This is a popular method of monetization in Asian countries, in which a player receives a random item for a specific amount. Initially, gacha existed almost exclusively in the kompu gacha variant. In 2012, the Japanese government banned this mechanic, after which local developers came up with many legal variations. Now 10-15 main gacha mechanics with subspecies are in use.
Five of them are described here. These mechanics have been used in Japan before or are being used now in order to attract high-paying players (or so-called “whales”).
Gacha has other options that are not mentioned here. This is a gacha in the tutorial or a pre-registration gacha. The variations that are given are specially created for high-paying players.
1. Kompu gacha
Kompu is an abbreviation of complete, that is, “complete”. Kompu gacha offers the player to get an item by paying for it in several moves. In other words, to get a thing (the “main prize”), players must collect a complete collection of items that are useless for the game by themselves. Gacha differs from kompu gacha in that in the first case, the user receives an item that can be used in any case. In the second case, only the “main prize” is useful in the game, and in order to achieve it, the player makes an unlimited number of attempts.
The scheme is quite simple, but for developers who hunted “whales”, it worked perfectly. Even too fine, according to the Japanese government, which considered that the mechanics suspiciously resemble gambling, and therefore banned it.
Needless to say, the ban does not apply to developers outside Japan.
There is evidence that users spent thousands and thousands of dollars to collect a complete set using gacha (hence the name) and get their grand prize.
Editor’s note: shortly before the ban came into force, the media discussed the case of a schoolboy who spent 400 thousand yen ($3.5 thousand) on kompu gacha.
Below is an example of a Japanese mobile game featuring the popular anime character Doraemon. Before kompu gacha was banned, this mechanic was used in the game.
To get a propeller (top left), players need to collect all the items depicted in a row2. Gacha “in a box” (package gacha, box gacha)
This option became popular after kompu gacha was banned. The key point here is that the number of items in the output is of course.
This means that if the developer reports exactly how many items are in the output and what are the chances of winning them, then the probability of winning rare items for the user increases with each new attempt, since there are fewer and fewer items left.
It turns out that if the player knows how many items are in the output and how much each attempt costs, he can count what it will cost to collect all the items.
Here is an example:
3. “Rising” gacha (step-up gacha)
As part of this mechanics, with each new attempt, the probability increases that the player will win a rare item. The first time as a reward, the player is likely to receive only currency, but the second time the probability of winning will double, the third time – three times, and so on.
The key point is that the user here has to pay for each attempt in the session, and not for the entire session. To get things moving, some developers offer the first attempt for free, and the money is withdrawn from the second attempt until the very end of the session.
Here is an example:
The first attempt costs the player 20 minos and guarantees one item with a value of 6 stars and above; the sixth attempt costs 300 minos and gives a chance to win an item with a value of 9 stars and above. The player has 30 minutes to complete the attempts
Some developers charge hundreds of dollars for the opportunity to complete the session completely.
In the example I gave above, the full cost of the session is 730 “minos”, units of hard game currency. A bundle of 810 minos costs $48, so it’s a pretty expensive gacha.
4. “Sequential” gacha (sequential gacha) and scratch gacha (scratch gacha)
In the case of “sequential” gacha, the point is that users who are tired of paying for each spin of the slot machine separately (the usual price of one spin is 120 yen) pay a larger amount for the machine to automatically make several spins in a couple of seconds.
The most popular options are the “sequential” gacha with 5 spins and 10 spins. Some developers offer discounts or gifts for the purchase of a “consistent” gacha, some do not.
For each time a user has bought a “consistent” gacha, he gets scratch points. As soon as a sufficient number of scratch points is scored, the player receives a scratch card, as in the picture below, and can choose to “open” a certain number of squares. Each square hides a prize or a collector’s item (often rare).
The most famous example of a “consistent” gacha is the RPG Shoumetsu Toshi from GREE.
Scratch-gacha, in turn, performs a single function: to make users pay for “consistent” gacha. As a rule, they cost 600 yen for 5 pieces or 1200 yen for 10.
Technically, scratch-gacha is not exactly gacha, but it is also designed to make the “whales” want to pay more.
5. Sugoroku gacha (sugoroku gacha)
The inspiration for this variant was sugoroku, a traditional Japanese board game.
The goal is to move the characters along the board from the start to the last square. Each of the squares contains a reward that the user will be able to receive as soon as he is on it. Naturally, the most valuable prize is hidden in the last square.
To move the character, the player will have to play gacha. Every time he plays, he is given the opportunity to roll the dice, launch a slot machine, or participate in some other luck-based game that will determine how many moves the character will advance.
For example, there are 30 squares on the board, and each is separated from the other by 10 cells, and in order to determine the number of moves, the player rolls the dice. This means that, ideally, he will reach the end of the board in 50 throws (if a “six” falls out every time).
In the Grimoire card game, a screenshot of which I have given below, sugoroku gacha consists of 12 squares, each of which is separated from each other by a different number of cells and contains different prizes. In this case, the number of moves is determined using simple slot mechanics (the number that the slot machine shows is equivalent to the number of cells that the character goes to).
Sugoroku gacha is notable for the fact that in it developers combine gacha with simple game mechanics and a mini board game.
The above mechanics are provided for reference only. In other words, this list is far from complete and not detailed: there are many more different gacha mechanics in the Japanese mobile gaming industry.
Editor’s note: gacha is also popular in the Western market. The mechanics in which the player receives a random item for hard or soft currency (with the possibility of obtaining rare weapons / armor / peronage) is used, for example, in Clash Royale.
Source: Serkan Toto
