How Gacha Games Breed Gambling Addicts

Even if you are F2P, you spend a resource more valuable than money which is time

that fact that I can look back on being one of these gacha addicts with fondness shows just how comprehensive and effective these systems are at keeping you hooked. I'm not scared to admit I lost something like $800 just to one summer of playing dokkan battle a few years ago, and I could not give a fuck less about the game itself but rather the trappings of the gambling systems it utilized. They're just that engaging even after all this time.

14:21 "These generous and impressive features are build off of a few whales and gambling addicts!" Yes! That's it! You've put words to my feelings about even the 'fair gachas'! In the end, they are willing participants in a depraved world of psychological manipulation and addiction abuse. A few drops of spring water in a poisoned well don't make it safe to drink. Thank you for the video!

I think im pretty much done with modern gaming stuff like gatcha and battle passes have completely turned me off. I have a big enough backlog of older games that I think I can enjoy for the rest of my life

A friend of mine got essentially addicted to genshin, sometimes rushing home because they had to "do the daily" 😞 Real good video by the way. Thanks a lot, man!

When I first started playing Skullgirls, one of my first thoughts was "wow this game is shockingly well monetized". A few months later and I was totally sucked in. I spent probably ~$200 but the time wasted was far more valuable

"Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse." Gacha games are a curse to the gaming industry.

Agreed, the gacha games I played almost requires to no skill to play. It’s all about if you have been pulling for limited time characters. If not you’ll surely have a rough time with those events and get this limited time rewards. FOMO at its finest. So glad I’m losing interest in any gacha games, present or upcoming.

America doesnt have the same regulations for gacha as Japan does. Which is a big problem. I started looking into gacha addiction this morning after I had to remove my card from my game of choice. I spent $400 in less than a month trying to keep up in The Legend of Neverland. This game pulls in a billion US dollars each month. Not only is it a gacha game but also its heavy pvp. So FOMO plus real competition to get what you need to to level up, to again, get what you need to go against others. It is ridiculously easy to fall behind in the game if you aren't spending daily. With $400 spent in less than a month, you might think Im a whale but I am far from it, which is mind boggling to think how much an actual whale is spending

Recently, i think i'm getting addicted to Genshin impact. I've seen a lot of people cosplay as characters from the game at anime conventions and received a lot of marketing about this game ever since it was launched so i decided to try it. At first, i felt the characters were charismatic and the world was inviting. Since it's a f2p game i was playing it without spending a single penny, then recently the game showcased one character that really called my attention, so i spent money on the welkin moon blessing. Basically what this blessing does is grating you 90 primogems/day for 30 days. What i didn't know is that if you ever fail to log in any day, this day is discounted and you do not receive any primogem. So then i had to actually log in to game EVERY single day so then i could at least make my spent mony worth anything.

yeah, I've become hooked on this stuff as well. It is extremely hard to stop and hard to also not feel immense guilt. FOMO is very predatory.

Great video mate. I played some of the games shown on video, and I can say firsthand that some of them literally have burned me out, with FGO being one of the biggest. I really love the story and some of the characters are my absolute favorites in all of fiction, but the gacha itself it unbearably frustrating for me. That said, it always reminds of of this one guy I knew who wouldn't spend a single dime on any gacha he plays, but has shilled out thousands of dollars on CSGO, War Thunder, etc. It's a bit funny looking back on him insisting that they're different. I think one of the ways for these gacha games to move forward maybe with cosmetics (like limited time skins, or unique UI, etc), since they aren't as malicious and consumers won't be as apprehensive towards them. Anyway, keep up the great work, and keep putting bangers 👍

recently discovered this video and i wanted to say ever since i started playing gacha games regularly i somehow enjoy playing actual games more maybe thats just a personal thing but it makes me appreciate how great actual games feel to play

I spent so much money on gacha, i really needed the help. I stopped playing Genshin Impact for a year, it helped. But then, 2 gacha games from 2 famous animes got released, Black Clover and Danmachi, the gameplay sucks so bad tbh, but my gambling addiction came back. I wanted the characters so bad. It's really such awful games... I'm regretting the money I lost to it so bad.

GOTCHA, BISH!!

Honestly I was thinking about Warframe, Overwatch, and Hearthstone but… those at least had the ability to trade in dupes for a rare you wanted. And the latter could be played for free if you were good enough. By comparison to some of the examples in this video it seems almost tame… Also, I think I would way “the predation aspect is obvious” rather than “the predatory-ness is obvious” (midway through, unless I misheard). That’s just a tiny wee thing tho. You did a great job summarising the psychological tricks. That said, at least at the end of the day you have a cute figurine from a real gachapon machine. If you walk away from one of these games you have nothing :/ that’s even more insidious imo

great video Ciggy! I love your music choice btw (just like i LOVE GAMBLING WOO)

That's where people got trapped. The term ITS IMPOSSIBLE TO NOT SPEND MONEY. I've played many gachas like Brave Frontier, Langrisser, GI. Its not impossible to not spend money. Its about self control. Those who spend way too much is the reason why people think badly of the Genre.

Thank you Ciggy, interesting topic as usual.

8:00 Skunk Jumpscare Warning