Reviewing the History of the Creation of the Gacha and Lootbox System

GAMEFINITY.ID, Salatiga – Gacha and lootbox systems have become commonplace in modern games. If we pay attention, almost 80% of multiplayer-based games currently use the gacha system. Over time the use of the gacha system in games on various platforms is increasingly mushrooming.

The practice of the gacha system itself reaps various pros and cons reactions. Many think that the gacha and lootbox systems are evil systems and grow addictive properties. But there are also those who think the gacha system is very exciting and creates a pleasant sensation when getting rare items.

The Beginning of the Gacha System

Although the gacha system is popular in modern games, it turns out that the gacha and lootbox systems have existed since 2004. The first known game to use this system was an MMORPG from Japan called MapleStory in June 2004. In the MapleStory game there is an item called “Gachapon Ticket” where players can buy the Ticket for 100 Yen and players get random items.

EA Introduces Lootbox

Then EA Games for the first time introduced a lootbox system in its newest game, Ultimate Team FIFA 09. Ultimate Team is a game mode in FIFA 09 where players can buy Player Packs to get various football player cards and arrange these players to form the strongest team. This system brings many benefits to EA and the Ultimate Team feature is still used in FIFA games to this day.

Valve Starts Glancing at Lootbox

Seeing the success of EA, various giant developers such as Valve began to implement this system in their multiplayer games. In 2010, Valve used the Lootbox system in its newest multiplayer game, Team Fortress 2 and continued in 2021 on Dota 2 and CSGO. The lootbox system used by Valve only includes cosmetic items so that there is no Pay to Win model in Valve’s multiplayer games.

The pinnacle of Lootbox’s glory

The peak of Lootbox and Gacha’s success occurred in 2021 when Blizzard released their multiplayer game, Overwatch. The popularity of Overwatch in North America has succeeded in increasing sales of both Overwatch games and in-game sales. Overwatch recorded a profit of 1 billion USD only from lootbox sales and various microtransactions.

The Lootbox Overwatch phenomenon has resulted in the expansion of games with gacha and lootbox systems. In 2021 and 2021 alone, around 15 games started using the gacha and lootbox systems. Starting from PUBG, Forza Motorsport 7, FIFA 17, Gears of War 4, and others. And now, gacha and lootbox systems have become standard in multiplayer games.

That was a little about the history of the creation of the lootbox and gacha system. Despite all the controversy, this system has indeed become one of the most influential monetization systems in gaming history. And we certainly hope that the implementation of the lootbox and gacha system will continue to pay attention to consumers and maintain a good game development climate.