SEGA’s Upcoming Sonic Mobile Game won’t Come with Gacha Mechanics

Mike Viray
2 months ago

As much as they are the norm in mobile gaming today, microtransactions are often frowned upon by a certain percentage of the hardcore gaming crowd, due to a number of reasons that are seen by many as detrimental to gameplay, and the gaming industry as a whole.

With that said, it looks like veteran gaming company SEGA has taken note of this, and will go a different route in terms of monetization with its upcoming game, Sonic Rumble. Developed in collaboration with Rovio (yes, that Rovio), Sonic Rumble is an online multiplayer battle royale with support for up to 32 players. Based on a recent interview it looks like the game will avoid the use of gacha mechanics.

Speaking to Automaton, game director Makoto Tase comments:

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.

Sonic franchise lead Takashi Iizuka adds:

In the Japanese and Asian markets, it’s common to have to spend tens of thousands of yen 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.

For those unfamiliar, the term gacha requires players to spend varying amounts of real-world currency in order to snag in-game items, characters, and more. They are essentially similar to loot boxes, with many players dismissing both as forms of in-game gambling.

Sonic Rumble is set to launch later this year.

Source: Eurogamer