"Making games requires testing them. For microtransaction-fueled gacha games, that means putting your own money on the line to sample the merchandise. That's apparently what led Street Fighter 2 producer Yoshiki Okamoto to spend over $500,000 of his own money on his own game's loot boxes. Monster Strike is one of Japan's most lucrative gacha games and it's one Okamoto helped create after leaving Capcom in the early aughts."
"You shoot monsters into one another to earn points and buy lottery tickets to acquire stronger characters. The mobile hit peaked a few years ago but has brought in over $8 billion in lifetime revenue. It almost singlehandedly saved the social media company Mixi and spawned Nintendo spin-offs and anime adaptations. All of which is to say it's made Okamoto, whose old startup had been failing before that, pretty rich."
Yoshiki Okamoto spent over $500,000 of his own money on loot boxes to test gacha mechanics and experience gameplay as paying players do. Monster Strike generated over $8 billion in lifetime revenue and made Okamoto wealthy, enabling annual earnings of roughly $7.81 million at Deluxe Games. Monster Strike's success rescued the social media company Mixi and spawned Nintendo spin-offs and anime adaptations. Okamoto reinvested substantial personal funds into newer titles such as Meteor Arena Stars and Outrankers to understand high-spending players and to fine-tune reward generosity. Okamoto views admin unlocks as inadequate to reproduce the genuine player experience.
Read at Kotaku
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