The first gachapon machines were set up in the early ’60s, but it wasn’t until 2010 that Konami had the bright idea of incorporating similar mechanics into its free-to-play card-battler mobile game, Dragon Collection. Insert your coins into one of these vending machines, and you’ll receive a random toy or piece of merch. Gachas take their name from Japanese toy vending machines called gachapon. In fact, there are so many different types of gachas that we thought it would be useful to round all of them up and explain why one of the mobile gaming market’s most popular features is only going to grow stronger in 2022 and beyond.

And as mobile game developers continue to innovate, new types of gacha implementation are popping up all of the time.

The loop-based mechanics and randomness of gacha rewards – where players pull the gacha in return for an in-game asset, whether that’s a character, item or currency – keep players hooked. The reason behind these booming figures? The gacha system is one of the most effective ways developers can monetize their mobile games, especially as many gacha games are free-to-play, which incentivizes downloads. In Japan, where gacha games are even more popular, these figures jump to 92% and 54%, respectively. 66% of top-grossing 100 mobile games in the US market feature a shop with gacha mechanics or refreshing wares, while 45% feature five or more gacha types. Gachas are dominating the mobile game market at the moment, and the popularity of both gacha games and gacha features in traditional mobile games continues to grow year on year. Gachas are evolving – here’s everything you need to know about them as well as the latest trends you can expect to see in 2022.

Bleach brave souls japan gacha