Paglalamay card games. Bầu cua cá cọp. Chap Ji Kee. Cock Fighting. Underground lottery.

 

There’s something about being Southeast Asians and gambling our luck. Just like in the Philippines, Toraja people from the Sulawesi islands also hold gambling during funerals. Elsewhere in Cambodia, people watch Siamese fish fight during their pastime. Perhaps, it’s the adrenaline rush. Perhaps, it’s a tradition borrowed from other cultures. Whatever the answer is, it seems we carry our innate gambling tendencies to modern times, as shown by claw machines set up by local shops in Indonesia’s rural areas.

 

Claw machine in Kampung Huta Padang, Tapanuli Selatan, Indonesia | Source: humas.polri.go.id

 

Though sometimes restricted by governmental and religious laws, gambling remains prevalent. In the meantime, gacha has made its way into our lives through video games.

What is Gacha?

Rising to popularity in 1960s Japan, Gacha acts like a lottery. People insert money into a special vending machine, and they get a random collectible (usually toys). The system was first adopted into video games with Konami’s Dragon Collection, which was published back in 2010. Compared to gambling, gacha stands in more of a gray area. It isn’t prohibited by law, and it isn’t as controversial.

 

Gacha vending machine | Source: Gamerbraves.com

 

Genshin Impact’s Money-Making Gacha System

When it comes to gacha’s profitability in Southeast Asia, I don’t think there’s a better case study than Hoyoverse’s award-winning Genshin Impact. The video game has become so popular in Southeast Asian countries, generating $6 million monthly revenue per November 2022 from the region alone. As per April 2024, the game is still making millions, and my girlfriend has spent about $200 to get her desired characters and in-game cosmetics (skins). 

 

“I just gotta get the characters.”

— Siti F, 29, Sr. Digital Designer in A Creative Agency.

 

But how does it get players like my girlfriend to spend so much money?

 

The answer goes back to the gacha system.

-A special 5-star character is only available for a specific time.

-The only way to get this character is to “pull” it by spending in-game currencies (primogems), which you can obtain by playing the game or through purchases.

-The catch: You only have <1% chance of getting the special character. If you don’t get the special characters, you still get random weapons and one 4-star character for every 10 pulls.

-To assist you, the game has a “pity system”. If you pull for 90 times, you are guaranteed to get either the limited-time character or another special character.

 

A rather oversimplified explanation of Genshin’s gacha system, but I guess that’s the gist.

 

Genshin Impact Gacha Results | Source: Sea.ign.com

 

But creating a gacha system alone doesn’t automatically translate to profit. Other video games even get bad reps for the way they cash out money from players. Genshin doesn’t. What did Hoyoverse do right?

 

1. Creating desire

Characters like Raiden Shogun or Yae Miko arguably cater to the male gaze. For the female gaze, there are characters like Neuvillette and Alhaitham, with a “daddy energy” that’s popular among heterosexual female players. Other than good looks, some special characters actually help players’ gameplay. Kazuha, for example, is voted by the community as a must-pull, as he makes it so much easier to clear a level—boosting damage. Be it looks or practicality, players have reasons to want the characters. 

 

“I pulled for Klee and Ayaka because they’re cute. Ayaka can easily glide to terrains. Kazuha boosts damage effectively,” Siti said.

 

2. Creating anticipation

Genshin has a rotation system. Two special characters are available for about two weeks. Afterwards, other characters will replace them. The anticipation, however, does not lie in the rotation system per se. It’s created before the special characters are released. The community usually gets “leaks”, where they can have a sneak peek of the character banner rotation. Content creators also get early access to the characters, so they can try out the character, upload a related video, and create hype among the community.

 

3. Creating a sense of obtainability

Genshin Impact is an F2P (free-to-play) game. It’s a great funneling technique that attracts millions of players. You can still enjoy the game without spending a dime, and the in-game currencies are farmable, too! But farming primogems takes way too much effort. To make it easier, players can subscribe to an affordable “blessing” which gives them 150% more primogems or a battle pass system with primogems and other unique rewards. If money isn’t an issue, players can straight out buy primogems with real money.

 

“A friend of mine just likes Kazuha, so he waits for the moment Kazuha becomes obtainable. There’s also a superstition that a character ‘likes you’ more, that you’re more likely to get the character,” Siti adds.

Kazuha, a character in Genshin Impact | Source: Kincir.com

 

Aight, enough about Genshin Impact. What about businesses?

Other businesses have sold Gacha-like products, too! K-pop albums, for instance, typically come with collectibles like idol photo cards. Children basically ask their parents to buy Kinder Joy for its toys, with a bonus of chocolate. Majorette diecast offers “blind boxes”. Foreign jewelry brands like Melinda Maria sold 25,000 mystery boxes in 2023 and saw a 100% sales increase due to this strategy.

 

These are great examples of how businesses use gacha-like strategies to obtain more profit. But I think they can still push it further by learning from what Hoyoverse has done. By constructing desire, anticipation, and a sense of obtainability, users can have more motivating reasons to purchase gacha products. 

 

At the same time, there should be considerations as to the limit of such gacha marketing tactics. Imagine a customer spends twice the amount of his monthly income and takes loans to support his gacha addiction. The man goes bankrupt, and the story goes viral. This scenario would damage brand reputation and user experience.

 

Can businesses embrace Gacha strategies while also prioritizing ethics? Or perhaps... is ethical consideration truly necessary?