Naavik Gaming Podcast Naavik Digest: Do "Fair" Gacha Games Work?
Feb 1, 2026
A deep look at action RPGs that prioritize fairness over traditional gacha mechanics. Comparison of three modern titles and how their different monetization choices played out. Analysis of revenue efficiency, retention, and breakeven outcomes. Discussion of community reaction and whether cosmetics-only or direct-purchase models can succeed.
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Industry Shift Away From Character Gacha
- Several new Asian action RPGs abandoned character gacha for cosmetics-only or direct-purchase models to reduce gambling and appeal to Western players.
- This shift aims to differentiate in a saturated market and preempt tightening loot box regulations.
Three Games, Three Monetization Experiments
- Wuthering Waves, Where Winds Meet, and Duet Night Abyss launched with different monetization experiments and comparable large budgets.
- Their mobile revenue trajectories diverged sharply, with Wuthering Waves far outperforming the others.
Cosmetics Monetize Better Than Expected
- Where Winds Meet's cosmetic-only model achieved similar iOS revenue-per-download to Wuthering Waves despite lower Day-30 retention.
- Duet Night Abyss's direct-purchase model performed poorly and suffered very low retention.