Amongst mobile games, the “gacha” monetization models stand out to many as a form of glorified gambling.

“Gacha” is short for gachapon, those Japanese vending machine-like capsule toy dispensers. Much like their namesake, gacha games also randomly roll from a pool of a wide assortment of characters. Many of the most profitable mobile games, such as Puzzles and Dragons, Fire Emblem Heroes, and Fate/Grand Order rely on some form of gacha systems for monetization.

As with any games with microtransaction schemes, there are devoted players who spend a considerable amount of money. These players are known as “Whales”. Although the term originally referred to high-spending casino players, in more recent years it has become common gaming lexicon as well.

Many people who do not see the value in spending money on such games look at gacha whales with a mixture of awe and incredulity,

“Why do you spend so much money on a free game?”

To answer that, GamePress interviewed a well-respected community member for the mobile game Fate/Grand Order (FGO), the highest grossing mobile game in Japan at the time of writing, whom we'll refer to as "H-san".