Online life simulator Second Life will ban gacha mechanics on their game soon, noting that creators would need to cease use of such machines starting Aug. 31.
Linden Lab, the creator of Second Life, details the move to remove the system from their game. A “changing regulatory climate” is their reason for moving to remove such a controversial system. In their blog, they further detail a grace period for their online creators.
Gacha pervasive across gaming landscape
Gacha mechanics are among the most controversial loot systems in gaming. Known in the West as the loot box system, these encourage players to buy tickets or spins for a gacha machine. These then give players a chance to win an item of their choice.
Gacha is controversial for several reasons, mostly because it is akin to gambling. The low chance of players getting items they want even if they spend hundreds of dollars is a major contention in gaming right now.
A ton of big AAA game studios use microtransactions or MTX to earn more from their players. EA, for example, generated $1.49 billion from FIFA Ultimate Team’s mtx lootbox mechanics.
Asian games like Fate Grand Order and Genshin Impact are additionally notorious for such mechanics in their titles. EU countries are pushing laws to deter such mechanics in services for the region at the moment.
Linden Lab to enforce policy starting September 1
Second Life is pushing its creators to stop any gacha machines from running. They note that there will be a 30-day grace period, ending August 31. Enforcement of the policy will start on September 1.
“Due to a changing regulatory climate, we’ve had to make the difficult decision to sunset a very popular sales mechanism for content in Second Life,” said Linden Lab in their blog. “It’s widely known as “gacha”, and is defined by a chance-based outcome as a result of a payment.
“We know that creators plan their content releases far in advance and will need to re-tool their products, so to mitigate the impact to those affected, we are giving a 30-day grace period, until midnight SLT on August 31.
“After that time, selling content via gacha machines will no longer be permitted in Second Life. Enforcement won’t start until September 1; after that date an Abuse Report for ‘Gaming Policy Violation’ will be the preferred method of reporting this content to Linden Lab.”
Second Life reiterates that sales, where the player knows what they’ll receive, are still fair game. Only purchases based on chance will undergo removal from the title.
Featured image courtesy of Second Life/Youtube Screenshot