Young Japanese people burn money on gacha games

19% of Japanese people in their 20s spend so much money on lottery tickets and in-game transactions that they have difficulty covering their daily expenses.

Japanese gamers spend so much money to spin random characters or items that it's not enough to make ends meet. Photo: IGN .

A survey on the spending habits of young people in Japan has revealed alarming results. Specifically, nearly 19% of Japanese people in their 20s have overspent on gacha and in-game transactions, making it difficult for them to balance their finances.

Egg spinning machines (gacha) are one of the popular game models in Japan. Toys are put into round boxes, which randomly fall out when users insert coins and turn the knob.

This is also the main source of revenue for games like Genshin Impact . Similar to loot boxes, players will pay money to spin out random characters or items.

The annual online survey was conducted by SMBC Consumer Finance in February 2025, with 1,000 respondents aged 20-29. The company studied the relationship between young people's spending in various areas, including gaming.

The survey focused mainly on in-game transactions and the willingness to spend of young Japanese people. A surprising 18.8% of respondents said they had "spent so much on in-game transactions that they could not cover their living expenses."

23.9% of respondents admitted to feeling regret about spending money on games.

The statistics also show that women tend to buy less items than men. However, when comparing the results in 2024, the rate of spending money on in-game transactions has increased. Accordingly, up to 18.4% of women participating in the survey revealed that they could not enjoy the game if they stopped "gacha", an increase of 2.6% compared to 2024.

Source: https://znews.vn/nguoi-tre-nhat-ban-dot-tien-cho-game-gacha-post1547343.html