Over the last decade, I’ve spent so much time and money on gacha games that I’ve lost count — Fire Emblem Heroes, GranBlue Fantasy, Dragalia Lost, Final Fantasy Record Keeper, Genshin Impact, Phantom of the Kill, and many more. From that list, only half of those games still exist. Do I regret all the time and effort I spent on gacha? Yeah, I do actually.
If you’re not in the know, gacha refers to a specific type of monetization model in games, where you have to spend in-game currency to do random draws for characters, weapons, items, etc. Genshin Impact is the most famous example, where you can use real-world money to purchase currency, or earn it in-game, and then spend said currency to do random pulls for characters. It’s a genre that’s riddled with insidious practices and predatory monetization, even in major established franchises.
