Gacha and Collectible RPGs: Pulls, Pity, and Odds Disclosure Laws
Collectible RPGs and gacha explained: origins, pity and rate-up systems, landmark titles, Korea's odds disclosure law, global regulation, and design tips.
A collectible RPG is a role-playing game in which you gather many characters, build a team, and level them up. The main way to get new characters is a random draw, commonly called "gacha." It is one of the most common formats in mobile RPGs today, and also one of the most controversial.
In this post, we cover what collectible RPGs and gacha are, where they came from, what kinds of pulls and safeguards exist, and which titles define the genre. We also look at regulation around the world, including Korea's mandatory disclosure of probability-based item information, and consider what kind of design lasts for both players and developers. For the overall history of RPGs, see The History of RPGs, and for how free games make money in general, see The Free-to-Play Business.
Definition and Core Appeal of Collectible RPGs and Gacha
"Gacha" comes from "gashapon" (or "gachapon"), the Japanese vending machines that dispense a random capsule toy when you insert a coin and turn the handle. Gacha games bring this principle into games, letting you spend in-game currency to get random characters or items. Because that in-game currency can be bought with real money, it becomes the game's source of revenue. It is a concept similar to the "loot box" in Western games.
Most gacha games are mobile RPGs that are free to start. They are often not just about pulling; team building, synergies between characters, and situational strategy matter a great deal. In high-difficulty content such as boss raids or tower climbs, which characters you combine and how can decide victory or defeat.
The core appeal includes:
- The joy of collecting: Filling out your collection and getting your favorite characters.
- Attachment to characters: Characters with appealing art, voice actors, and their own stories become more than just combat units.
- Team building and progression: The same character can play different roles depending on gear and team composition.
- A steady stream of new stories: Regular updates keep adding new characters, events, and stories.
Origins: From Card Games to Mobile Gacha
The structure of getting collectibles at random is old in itself. Wikipedia points to strategic trading card games like Magic: The Gathering in the early 1990s as the prototype of the gacha model: you don't know which cards are in a booster pack until you open it.
Digital gacha began to spread widely in Japanese mobile games in the early 2010s. GungHo Online Entertainment's Puzzle & Dragons (2012) combined match-3 puzzles with monster collecting and team building and became a huge success. In the same year, Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency ruled illegal the "complete gacha" (kompu gacha), which awarded a rare item only when you collected a full set of specific items, and the practice disappeared.
In Korea, collectible RPGs became a major mobile genre with the release of Netmarble's Seven Knights and Com2uS's Summoners War in 2014. In 2015, Fate/Grand Order showed the power of a famous source IP, and in 2020 miHoYo's Genshin Impact combined open-world action with gacha, showing that collectible RPGs could be built on the scale of major console games. Today, gacha structures are used not only in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean games but also in games from Europe and the US.
Types of Gacha and Safeguards
| Structure | Description |
|---|---|
| Banner (rate-up) | A pull where a specific character's odds are boosted for a set period |
| Multi-pull | Pulling 10 times at once, etc., for a discount or a minimum rarity guarantee |
| Step-up gacha | Benefits grow at each step as you pull a set number of times |
| Box gacha | Draws from a fixed pool of prizes without putting drawn items back; pull to the end and you get everything |
| Pity (hard pity) | A high-rarity item is guaranteed if none appears within a set number of pulls |
| Soft pity | From a certain number of pulls, the odds of high rarity gradually rise |
| Exchange (spark) | Points accumulated with each pull can be exchanged directly for a chosen character |
| 50/50 | When a high-rarity result appears, there's a 50% chance it's the featured character; if not, the next one is guaranteed |
| Complete gacha | Rewards only for collecting a full set; ruled illegal in Japan in 2012 |
Pity and exchange systems effectively set a "maximum price." They let you calculate how much it would cost in the worst case to get the character you want, preventing unlimited spending. In the past some games didn't disclose their odds, but now that disclosure is a legal requirement in many countries, virtually every gacha game publishes its odds.
Landmark Titles
| Year | Game | Developer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Puzzle & Dragons | GungHo Online Entertainment | Combined puzzles and monster collecting, popularized mobile gacha in Japan |
| 2014 | Seven Knights | Netmarble | Flagship series of Korean mobile collectible RPGs |
| 2014 | Summoners War | Com2uS | Monster collecting and rune gear, a Korean game that succeeded globally |
| 2015 | Fate/Grand Order | Delightworks (now Lasengle) | Famous source IP and a vast story |
| 2020 | Genshin Impact | miHoYo | Combined open-world action RPG with gacha |
| 2021 | Blue Archive | NAT Games (now Nexon Games) | Korean-developed collectible RPG centered on a school story and characters |
| 2021 | Umamusume: Pretty Derby | Cygames | Training simulation featuring anthropomorphized real racehorses |
Controversy and Regulation
Gacha has consistently been criticized for resembling gambling. Research suggests that because outcomes depend on chance, the anticipation of rare rewards triggers reactions similar to gambling. Particular concerns include structures in which a small number of high spenders ("whales") account for a large share of revenue, the urgency created by limited-time sales, and presentation that teases a rare character as if it's just about to appear. Protecting minors is another important issue.
Legal judgments vary by country.
- Korea: In February 2023, the National Assembly passed an amendment to the Game Industry Promotion Act requiring that the types and odds of probability-based items be disclosed to players, and the rule took effect in March 2024. Before that, the industry operated under self-regulation. Since it took effect, some overseas games have also disclosed their odds or changed their sales methods for Korean players.
- Japan: In 2012, the Consumer Affairs Agency ruled complete gacha illegal, and in 2016 the industry body Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) issued guidelines recommending disclosure of odds for paid gacha.
- China: Requires game companies to disclose item drop rates.
- Netherlands and Belgium: Regulators have taken the position that some loot boxes are gambling.
- United Kingdom: Does not classify them as gambling, on the grounds that the items obtained have no real-world monetary value.
- United States: In 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took action against the operator of Genshin Impact, citing issues including making it hard for minors to understand the real odds and costs, and the company agreed to pay $20 million.
Design Points
In collectible RPGs, balancing revenue against player trust matters above all.
1. Make Odds and Costs Easy to Understand
Going beyond the disclosure the law requires, it's good to present information in a way players can actually understand. Layering multiple currencies blurs the real price, which is also something regulators take issue with. Clearly showing the real price of a single pull and the maximum cost to reach pity builds trust.
2. Set a Ceiling with Pity and Exchanges
With pity, players can plan with the certainty that "if I save up, I'll definitely get it." The sense that even non-paying players can get the character they want by playing steadily and saving currency is what creates long-term engagement.
3. Don't Tie Progression to Pulls
In the past, pull results often blocked progression itself, but more games now let you clear core content with free characters. Treating rare characters as "convenience and personality" rather than "required" reduces complaints.
4. The Appeal of the Characters Themselves
Ultimately, the reason people spend money in collectible RPGs is the characters. Carefully crafting art, voices, individual stories, and relationships with other characters is the healthiest motivator.
5. Spending Safeguards
Safeguards such as monthly spending limits, payment restrictions for minors, and spending history features protect at-risk players and preserve the game's reputation over the long term. Research has pointed out that structures without spending limits are associated with overspending among at-risk players.
Who It's For
- People who enjoy collecting and raising their favorite characters for its own sake
- People who like planning team compositions and progression
- People who want to enjoy continuously updated stories and events over a long time
- People suited to a play style of logging in briefly but regularly each day
However, if you tend to spend easily on random rewards, it's a good idea to set a monthly budget in advance. It also helps to make a habit of checking the odds and pity first, and seeing whether there are exchanges or guaranteed purchases instead of pulls.
Collectible RPGs Today
Collectible RPGs remain a core genre in the mobile market while expanding onto PC and consoles. Since Genshin Impact, there have been more large-scale collectible RPGs with open worlds or high-quality 3D action, while mandatory odds disclosure and stronger regulation in various countries have made the genre far more transparent than before.
Future competition is likely to depend less on "how many pulls you can get players to make" and more on "how long players can trust and enjoy the game." Mechanisms like pity, free currency, and odds disclosure are becoming fundamental design for preserving player trust, beyond just responding to regulation.