Pan Studio removes the gacha from Duet Night Abyss in a move I hope catches on

It feels like you can’t just buy a game nowadays. There is always something else to spend money on, like DLC costumes, levels, or perhaps the most prevalent suspect: gacha. We all know what this is: it is gambling without the stigma. Somehow, loot boxes got the chop, but gacha stayed.

We aren’t going to dive into the ethics, after all, developers do need to make money, and I am sure nobody wants yet another developer shut down. However, this can of worms might get opened as Pan Studio announced the removal of all gacha systems from its upcoming action RPG, Duet Night Abyss.

Not only will there be no weapon or character banners to pull from, but there won’t be a stamina system either. The only monetization will be cosmetics. In other words, Duet Night Abyss is going to be a game. It only struck me now, as I phrased it that way, how sad it is that this is exciting for me.

That just goes to show how prevalent gachas have become, especially in our world. We should not have to be pouring more and more money into games just to unlock new characters and weapons. And even one step further, developers don’t need to add this level of monetization to be profitable. 

I would like to refer everyone to Digital Extremes and a little game called Warframe. The team is constantly adding new characters and new weapons that you can pay for, or you can grind them out. And it has been profitable enough for the company to host its own dedicated convention year after year. 

Perhaps the reason that gachas are everywhere is because we allow them to be, and we have gotten too comfortable with them. Speaking purely as a customer, I hope this move by Pan Studio starts a trend that kicks the gacha out of games, and more companies adopt an approach like this, or like Digital Extremes.

Everything could use more Warframe.