What is a gacha game?

By Anyka Pettigrew Published January 4, 2025

Some of the most popular video games of the current decade are part of a genre known as gacha, but what really does this word mean? Why are gacha games so popular, and how are they making so much money? Anyone unfamiliar with the term gacha will inevitably ask these questions, and we have answers to them.

From games like Genshin Impact to Wuthering Waves, and now Infinity Nikki, these games all share the gacha name and have many similarities in terms of game mechanics. These aren’t the only beloved gacha games, as there are dozens, if not hundreds of other gacha games that have captured the hearts — and wallets — of millions of gamers. Here’s everything you need to know about gacha games.

Gacha games are games in which players are encouraged to use real-life money to unlock randomized items in a loot box-type system. The term gacha originated in Japan and comes from the word gachapon, which is a type of machine where you put in tokens and receive a capsule containing a random toy.

Gacha games grant players the option to spend money on in-game currency that can purchase randomized rewards, but this currency is also earnable for free while playing the game itself. These games have a free-to-play (F2P) model that allows players to not spend a dime and still take a chance on “pulls” to see if they get the reward that they want. Otherwise, gacha games heavily incentivize players to spend real money for more chances to win that special character, weapon, or other in-game item they desire.

Just like how gachapon machines tell you which items you may receive by spending money, players also have a sense of their chances of pulling the item they want. Gacha games typically have an array of common rewards players will most often receive, but there’s a much smaller chance for rarer rewards.

Here are some examples of the biggest gacha games yet:

If you think this sounds a lot like gambling, it essentially is in a way. Gacha games have long been criticized for enticing players to spend real money for the chance to receive rare rewards, as these prizes are often 5-Star characters that look cool and have amazing fighting abilities. Or they can be weapons that pair with the new character, and you could feel left out for not getting the weapon that matches the character.

On top of that, a lot of the gacha rewards players can receive from these games are limited-time, or at least the higher chance to receive these new prizes are. For example, Genshin Impact will have something called Banners that will run for only a few weeks and spotlight one new character and a few older ones to incentivize players to spend money before they’re gone. If you miss the Banner, you’ll still have a chance to receive that beloved character, albeit a very small chance.

These games will also often use a pity system of sorts, which is essentially a guaranteed reward after making a certain amount of unsuccessful pulls. When the pity system kicks in and how it works always depends on the game you’re playing, but this is a common mechanic in gacha titles to make players feel less like they’re getting screwed over.

The gigantic boom of gacha games within the past decade isn’t due to a sudden rise of gambling addictions in our youth, although some people may think that after seeing how much money gacha games earn. It’s a combination of having a fun game that can also be accessed at any time by a wide audience. What we mean by this is the fact that nearly all gacha games are mobile games you can play through your phone.

This doesn’t mean that some games aren’t also accessible through your computer or console, but a huge portion of gacha games’ audiences play right from their phones. This makes it a lot easier to play at any time of day, which also means it can reach a wider audience. Almost everyone in the world owns a cellphone, but not everyone has a gaming PC or a PlayStation or Xbox.

Not only that, but the games themselves have to be fun and enticing. Players adore HoYoverse titles like Genshin Impact or Honkai: Star Rail because first and foremost, they have engaging combat, intriguing storylines, and hundreds of hours of gameplay opportunities. These games are consistently updated with new regions and characters, so players are usually pulled back into the game when new content comes out.