The US site Kotaku interviewed a number of players who have invested huge amounts of money in Genshin Impact. These so-called “Whales” talked about their reasons and their approach to pulling.
Who are “Whales”? Whales refers to gamers who spend very large sums of money on microtransactions. They are usually found in free-to-play and gacha games and belong to the user group that essentially finances the game almost single-handedly.
For example, only 2% of all players of the mobile game “Clash of Dragons” generate a whopping 40% of all the game’s revenue (via. Venturebeat).
There is no exact amount of money that defines when someone qualifies as a “Whale”. This figure is often subjective and depends on personal views. For some, spending €1,500 already qualifies someone as a Whale. For others, it starts at €5,000.
The US site Kotaku interviewed a number of players who would call themselves “Whales” about their reasons for whaling. According to their own statements, they have spent extremely different amounts of money, ranging between €1,000 and €90,000.
“HoYoverse has created something unique”
This is what Whales say about their reasons: The main reason for the often enormous expenditures of Whales can be summarized as “One really wants to own something”, such as a character or a weapon. However, individual preferences diverge quickly at this point:
- Some want to have the strongest characters
- Some want to have the most beautiful characters
- Some want to have everything
The interviewed Whales are willing to pay the necessary money because Genshin Impact is simply a good free game that they like to support. The money spent flows to the developers, who produce more enjoyable content. One player who invested about €6,000 said:
If people create a good game thanks to microtransactions, then I will invest my money to support it. […]
Solian_13 to Kotaku.
Another player, himself a developer from the mobile sector, remarked: “I think gacha games have less monetization. […] It is separate from the gameplay. One makes a good game and then takes gacha as monetization. In free strategy games like Clash of Clans, it is the core and you pay for time. […]”
The reasons were also somewhat personal in nature. Another Whale player explained that Genshin Impact helps him with his mental problems and makes him happier. For him, the game is even the cheaper alternative. Proper therapy would cost him significantly more in his country than what he has invested in Genshin (over €1,000).
The streamer RazerNinjas, who remained anonymous and invested about €90,000 in Genshin Impact, cites several reasons:
- On one hand, he simply wants to deal as much damage as possible
- On the other hand, he finds it “visually appealing” when all characters are maximized
- Additionally, it is part of his stream to showcase the potential of maximized characters to the viewers.
This is how the Whales proceed: Since whaling can obviously become very expensive, all respondents from Kotaku had a stable job, with some of them even being very well-paid. These players worked in fields such as cybersecurity, banking, or government institutions. Accordingly, they also spent more money on Genshin Impact.
However, the Whales’ expenditures were reportedly planned. Most did not simply throw money around, but created a plan, for example:
- One person wanted to have all characters from Inazuma.
- Another person always tracked the current meta and maximized the strongest characters
- A third wanted to fully upgrade just their favorite character and its optimal weapon
No money was spent outside of the plan; instead, it was saved for often months, until the desired banner was available again. The exception was for those players who simply wanted to own all characters, like the streamer RazerNinjas.
This is what the Whales criticize: The respondents took the matter of money very seriously. They all believed that one should only spend as much money on the game as one can afford. Some of them reported that they reduced their spending as soon as they realized it was harming them financially.
About half of the respondents even described gacha mechanics as predatory and dangerous. They have the potential to harm people who may have less self-control and spend beyond their means in the game.
Too many people chase the dopamine rush that comes from pulling the desired character. Or they get swept away by the hype. It’s not worth it. It’s just pixels.
J to Kotaku
Particularly younger Genshin fans are considered a vulnerable group that should be protected, according to some of the interviewed Whales. The danger of being “sucked” into the game is too great.
If you are also on the hunt for Primogems to pull new characters, here are some for free:
Genshin Impact: Current code in November 2022 gives you 60 Primogems
