Sonic Rumble, Sega’s forthcoming mobile and PC game, won’t have gacha mechanics because they’re not popular in the west.
The 32-player battle royale will be free-to-play but won’t be pay-to-win, with a season pass as its main monetisation.
“We’re aiming for a casual system that allows you to just buy what you want quickly for a small, fixed amount, rather than a gacha system that gives you a certain probability of obtaining items,” game director Makoto Tase told Automaton.
Added Sonic franchise lead Takashi Iizuka: “In the Japanese and Asian markets, it’s common to have to spend tens of thousands of yen [in a game] until you draw a rare character and finally get to move on. But this is not the case in the global market, especially for an action game like Sonic Rumble, where players should be able to enjoy the game on an equal footing. The starting point of this project itself was to make it a mobile game that would sell globally. Therefore, the monetisation model was designed from the beginning based on global standards.”
Instead, players will spend in-game Rings on cosmetics, which will be updated daily. Rings are obtained through play to raise your score and double as in-game currency.
Monetisation through gacha mechanics – that is, spending money for a random item – have “not been very successful when it comes to games targeted towards worldwide audiences of all ages,” said Tase. “Also, such mechanics tend to be shunned overseas, so we didn’t think it was the right choice for this project.”
Sonic Rumble has been developed with Angry Birds studio Rovio, which Sega acquired in 2023. Company profits have since been boosted significantly.
The game is a Fall Guys-esque battle royale with multiple modes for players to race through or battle for Rings. It’s set for release across mobile and PC this winter.
The gacha comments are certainly interesting when compared to the likes of Square Enix. Its Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis game is rife with money-grabbing tactics, although the company’s latest financial report states its mobile games have seen declining sales “due to weak sales of existing titles”.
The company has recently closed a number of mobile games in the west, including Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius, which included gacha mechanics – notably the Japanese version will remain in service.