Gacha monetization mechanics : Customizable simulator for random draws

Abstract

Mobile and video games are offered increasingly often as a free-to-play or freemium service. A gacha game is a Japanese term used for a subset of such games that implement a variety of random draw mechanics. These include a wide variety of random draw systems embedded into the gameplay. Most of them require or allow the spending of a real-world currency along with virtual in-game currencies accumulated via actual gameplay. This study looks at some of the mechanisms and features present in these systems by examining several popular or noteworthy gacha games and related literature. Specific attention is given to the implementation of random draw. Gacha systems are usually found in games made in Japan and the rest of Asia but similar systems from elsewhere in the world are also looked at briefly. This study also aims to create a customizable simulator that simulates the random draws of a gacha reward system and outputs data about the process. A number of presets are included to simulate some existing gacha systems as accurately as possible while customization options allow for fine-tuning and experimentation. The customizable simulator expands on the idea of popular community-made summon simulators by providing more insight into the inner workings of gacha and loot box mechanics. The customizable simulator can be used by players to help plan their purchases and by developers to plan, create or evaluate their own monetization systems. It can also be used for research by anyone interested in random draw monetization systems or random draw in general.