The last time we talked about NetEase’s Ananta, we analyzed how a few recent Asian action RPGs are abandoning the lucrative, character-collection-driven gacha model in favor of cosmetic-only gachas and direct-power-purchase economies. It’s a bold strategy that aims to differentiate these titles in a highly saturated action RPG market. Preempt tighteningglobalregulations around loot boxes, and appeal to Western audiences who don’t naturally gravitate toward gacha monetization. At the same time, a significant financial risk exists around being unable to drive highly potent live ops revenue spikes (through the sales of character gacha banners), while gunning for profitability with about $100M launch development/marketing and around $200M per year live ops budgets.

Now that several “fair” gacha Asian action RPGs have launched, we can start to uncover the performance of this unique monetization strategy and see if prioritizing player fairness can lead to outsized profitability.

A Quick Overview of the Comps

For this analysis, we selected Wuthering Waves, Where Winds Meet, and Duet Night Abyss. We are focusing on these three titles because they represent the modern "post-Genshin" wave of high-fidelity, Genshin-like action RPGs all releasing within a relatively tight window between mid-2024 and late-2025. 

While comparisons to Genshin Impact are inevitable, they are often unproductive; Genshin Impact benefits from a massive first-mover advantage and five years of LiveOps compounding that new entrants simply cannot replicate. Further, since Genshin Impact’s launch, the competitive landscape of action RPGs has significantly heated up with many new games vying for Genshin Impact’s initial success. Therefore, to truly gauge the viability of “fairer” monetization models, we’re opting to compare these modern contemporaries against one another rather than against the subgenre’s anomaly.

Also note that even though all these titles are cross-platform, we will limit the analysis to mobile-only performance, with the additional caveat that China Android estimates are not available through Sensor Tower. However, this will not dampen the broader takeaways, as mobile revenues represent a major chunk of these businesses, and revenue efficiency comparisons will still be relatively apples-to-apples. We will still provide a cross-platform perspective where necessary.

With that, here is a quick introduction to each game.

#1 — Wuthering Waves (byKuro Games): This game represents the "traditionalist" approach, sticking closely to the proven Genshin Impact formula. It launched in May 2024 and features high-octane combat (building on Kuro’s Punishing: Gray Raven DNA) and monetizes strictly through character and weapon gacha, treating characters as premium assets. Developed by a massive team of over 500 developers with a development budget estimated at more than $100M, it serves as the high-investment control group for this comparison. This adherence to the high-ARPU gacha model has already yielded significant financial returns on mobile (excluding China Android), driving about $320M on approximately 29M downloads over 21 months (around $15M per month).

#2 — Where Winds Meet (byEverstone Studio/NetEase): This game inherits a more MMO-like framework while retaining the core tenets of the Genshin Impact DNA (action RPG combat, open-world exploration, and more). However, it adopts a "cosmetics-only" approach, monetizing premium cosmetics while keeping all weapons and characters standard — thereby removing all pay-to-win elements. With a substantial team of more than 300 developers and an estimated development budget of over $84M, it is a major production. However, its mobile (excluding China Android) revenue performance has been modest, driving around $115M on about 20M downloads over 14 months (approximately $8M per month).

#3 — Duet Night Abyss (byPan Studio/Hero Games): This game attempts the most radical shift as a semi-open-world action RPG. It abandons the character gacha entirely, opting for a direct-purchase model where premium characters and weapons are obtained through grinding or upfront payments. Despite a comparable investment — more than 300 developers and an over $80M development budget — financial performance has struggled during the most lucrative game launch months, driving only about $3.5M on around 2.2M downloads over 4 months (less than $1M per month).

Evaluating the Results

Comparing these high-level metrics across the three titles suggests that “fairer” gacha business models, such as those in Where Winds Meet and Duet Night Abyss, have not matched the revenue efficiency of the character-collection-driven model used by Wuthering Waves. However, let’s go a bit deeper before jumping to any conclusions.

When comparing the iOS China RPD across the three games, it is notable that the long-term revenue efficiency of Where Winds Meet tracks closely with that of Wuthering Waves, suggesting that the former’s cosmetic-only monetization approach is working relative to its character-collection gacha counterpart. This is even more impressive given that Where Winds Meet’s iOS China D30 retention is half that of Wuthering Waves (around 2.5% vs. about 5.0%). Duet Night Abyss, on the other hand, is struggling, compounded by a very low iOS China D30 retention of approximately 1.5%. 

The community response has also been interesting to track. While players often praise the removal of "gambling," titles like Duet Night Abyss suffered from a distinct "hype deficit" without the creator-driven momentum generated by gacha pull videos and viral luck moments. Additionally, the shift to a direct-purchase model appears to create "sticker shock" — players who might gradually spend over $100 in a gacha-driven game often balk at a specific $60 upfront price tag for a single character. 

That said, Where Winds Meet seems to have received a very favorable community response. On Steam, the game currently garners a “Very Positive” rating across all languages (including Chinese). Many comments show appreciation for the game’s choice to pursue a less aggressive monetization model — including cosmetics-only gacha, and complete avoidance of pay-to-win.

Lastly, from a profitability standpoint, it’s no surprise that Wuthering Waves has long since passed its development cost break-even point (approximately 3 times over 21 months). This is based solely on mobile revenues and excluding China Android and cross-platform upside. Where Winds Meet has also crossed this threshold (about 1.5 times over 14 months), and looks even better when considering China Android and cross-platform revenues. Duet Night Abyss is clearly not seeing similar fortunes (around 0.05 times over 4 months), and China Android and cross-platform revenues are unlikely to change that materially.

Putting it All Together

Overall, it would be safe to conclude that Duet Night Abyss’s direct-purchase economy has failed, unable to convert players who balked at the "sticker shock" of high upfront costs. However, attributing the game’s failure entirely to its monetization model choices might be a bit premature, as there could be other factors at play (such as inefficient marketing activities and undesirable character design). Still, the monetization model choice likely played a significant role in the project’s overall success. It’ll be interesting to see whether future titles attempt a similar strategy, with different execution.

It would also be very easy to conclude that Wuthering Waves continues to showcase why character-collection gacha is the safest choice from a business perspective, continuing to deliver predictable, high-yield returns. However, we’d venture to say that Where Winds Meet’s performance could be the start of breaking that line of thinking:

1. The game’s business model shift has not radically undermined unit economics versus comparable competitors utilizing a more traditional action RPG gacha design. This is even more impressive given it was achieved despite lower long-term player retention, indicating an effective monetization strategy among its engaged player base.
2. Player reception hasn’t suffered, and has been generally positive with regard to the game’s departure from pay-to-win monetization mechanics.
3. The game developers confirmed that the game “has honestly blown all our internal expectations out of the water.” NetEase attributed part of its games segment +11.8% YoY revenue increase to Where Winds Meet. It was also recognized by Chinese officials as a soft power success, comparable to Black Myth: Wukong.
4. Most importantly, it seems like the game is past the break-even point on its development budget and profitable from that perspective. The question that remains is whether it can continue to sustain lifetime profitability given high ongoing LiveOps costs.

In a nutshell, Where Winds Meet seems to be scratching the surface of a significant long-term insight by establishing a profitable and powerful "third way" for Asian action RPGs. While the character-gacha model will continue to remain the industry's financial heavyweight (until a strong force like global regulation steps in), the performance of Where Winds Meet provides a compelling new blueprint. However, we are still early in this transition, and the replicability of this path remains largely unproven. Still, the future remains exciting!

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Content Worth Consuming

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Interview: Highguard Developers on Dealing with the Hostile Reception to Its Ambitious Shooter (The Game Business YouTube Channel): “In this edition of The Game Business Show, Chris sits down with the leaders of Wildlight, which is the studio behind the new online raid shooter Highguard. The new game launches after a hostile reception to its big The Game Awards reveal last month. The team discuss that reception, its decision to self-publish Highguard, and the lessons it's learned from working on Apex Legends.”

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History of the Anno Series with Creative Director Manuel Reinher (The AIAS Game Maker’s Notebook): “Trent Kusters chats with Ubisoft Mainz Creative Director, Manuel Reinher. Together they discuss his extensive work in the Anno series and his path from the art team to direction; the creative and technical challenges of working in the historical strategy game genre; their approach to depicting the Roman Empire in the latest series release, Anno 117: Pax Romana; how a seemingly simple transition from square to hexagon tiles comes with massive ramifications in all parts of game design; and how they tackle accessibility without sacrificing complexity and depth.”

Marc Andreessen on Why This Is the Most Important Moment in Tech History (The a16z Show): “Recently, Marc Andreessen joined Lenny Rachitsky on Lenny's Podcast. They talked about why 2025 may be the most significant year in tech history, how AI is reshaping the future of product managers, designers, and engineers, and what founders need to understand about building in this moment—from where moats actually exist in AI to what the most AI-native companies are doing differently to the skills Marc is teaching his own kids to thrive in what comes next.”

Inside SciPlay's Long-Term Approach to Live Games and Growth (pocketgamer.biz): “SciPlay is one of the most established names in the social casino genre, best known for its flagship title Jackpot Party Casino Slots. Now, SciPlay is applying that expertise to new genres, such as casual, while investing in the teams and infrastructure it needs to support further growth. To find out about its latest plans, we caught up with CEO Josh Wilson to discuss how SciPlay — which ranked in our Top 50 Game Makers 2025 list — has evolved over the years, how its strategy is shaped by data-driven decision-making and long-term player retention, and how these principles are shaping what comes next from the studio.”

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