EM2: An Interactive Guide for Game Developers in Implementing Ethical Monetization Model for Free-to-Play Single-player Games Utilizing Lootboxes and Gacha (In-Development)

STUDY IN PROGRESS!

How to participate in the study:

Install and play the current version of the EM2 demo and test out the features.
Go to one of these links to answer some questions about the demo and give some feedback.
1. User-Focused Survey. (For Consumers.)
2. Developer-Focused Survey. (For Developers that will use the guide.)
Wait for the next version and do it all over again!
???
Profit

What is EM2?

Ethical Monetization Model(EM2) is an interactive guide for game developers that are trying to break through the Free-To-Play Market. Indie Games has seen huge success in the recent years with indie developers emerging as strong competitors to AAA publishers. Reports show that the global indie game market generated approximately $2.2 billion in revenue in 2023, fueled by platforms such as Steam, mobile app stores, and subscription services (VGI, 2024). But most of these games are using Buy-to-Play model to generate revenue, and the Free-to-Play market remains difficult to penetrate for indie developers. Large companies dominate this market by leveraging massive advertising budgets and psychologically optimized monetization strategies. Although profitable, these practices have drawn significant criticism for fostering predatory mechanics that exploit players through addictive behavior, lack of transparency, and pressure to spend excessively.

Beyond consumer sentiment, there is also growing regulatory and academic scrutiny of lootboxes and gacha systems. Regulatory pressures highlight the urgent need for models of monetization that balance revenue generation with ethical responsibility. The Ethical Monetization Model (EM2) seeks to address this gap by offering an open-source, community-informed framework for indie developers who aim to release F2P games without adopting exploitative practices. Unlike traditional gacha or lootbox systems designed primarily for profit maximization, EM2 emphasizes transparency, fairness, and community trust. The model encourages disclosure of probabilities, limits on excessive spending, and the inclusion of non-monetary progression paths. By integrating these ethical safeguards into a working prototype, the study aims to demonstrate that goodwill can serve as a sustainable form of capital, supporting both player satisfaction and long-term profitability.

About the Game

Dungeon Survivors is a simple game that is heavily inspired by Vampire Survivors where you can unlock various characters with different specialties and pair them with different Trinkets that can boost their combat capabilities to demonstrate how gacha or lootboxes can be implemented in a singleplayer game utilizing EM2 as the monetization model. This game is intentionally made simple due time constraints, lack of manpower, and most importantly, the researcher believes that the core of a successful game is how fun it is, make your game fun first, then think how to monetize it.

Objectives

The goal of this study is to determine how to make gacha or lootboxes work as a means to generate money for free to play games while keeping ethical standards to avoid exploiting the players.

And this demo will help the researcher to achieve this goal. By engaging with the community and asking for direct feedback, the researcher can potentially create a community-driven monetization model that can hopefully become mainstream.

And to fully achieve this goal, the study will go through several phases.

Phases

Phase 1: Assumption Phase, create a prototype of the model based on assumptions of what makes a good monetization model that utilizes gacha mechanics without scummy practices. (TBF most modern gacha releases are getting better and better practices, but mostly when they are newly released so they can gather more players, and gets scummy after a few updates.)

Phase 2: Get feedback from various players. If it gets a low rating score, go to Phase 3, if it passes, then Phase 4.

Phase 3: Update the prototype based on feedback.

Phase 4: Release EM2 as a free and open source guide so indie developers can skip the trial and error phase of creating a monetization scheme in their free-to-play game.

Assumptions

These are the qualities and features of an ethical monetization model based on the assumptions the researchers had when developing version 0.1 of EM2:

Transparency of Odds. The probability of obtaining items through gacha or lootbox systems must be easily accessible and clearly displayed in prominent areas of the interface, rather than being hidden under multiple menus or obscure options.
Fair Pity System. A reasonable pity or guarantee mechanism should be implemented, allowing players to obtain rare items after a certain number of attempts. This system must not reset with every new banner or event, ensuring long-term fairness and preventing player exploitation.
Currency Clarity. The system should avoid unnecessary currency conversions (e.g., exchanging real-world money into multiple in-game tokens or premium points). Such practices are often used to obscure actual spending and mislead players.
Spending Disclosure. The total amount of money spent by a player should be clearly displayed in the interface. Providing this information ensures players are aware of their financial activity within the game, promoting responsible spending habits.
Spending Limits. Players should have access to voluntary spending limits or self-regulation tools, such as warnings after reaching a threshold or options to cap spending. This prevents excessive and potentially harmful financial behavior.
Non-Pay-to-Win Progression. The game should not create systems where paying players have an unfair gameplay advantage over non-paying players. Purchasable items should focus on convenience or saving time, rather than a requirement to progress.
Accessibility for All Players. Items offered through the shop or gacha system should not be exclusive to paying players. All content must remain accessible to every player, either through gameplay progression, event participation, or alternative non-monetary methods. This ensures that free-to-play users can enjoy the full experience without being excluded or disadvantaged, while purchases remain an option of convenience rather than a requirement.
Ethical Communication. Marketing, notifications, and in-game prompts should avoid manipulative strategies such as false urgency, excessive push notifications, or misleading advertisements designed to pressure players into spending.

Roadmap

The model is still in its infancy, this version mostly focuses on function and the foundation on what ethical practices EM2 wants to push. After the data collection and analysis from this version. This demo will have tooltips containing the stats and data collected from the community. This demo will essentially be an interactive media that can help developers to implement an ethical and community-driven monetization model for their video game.

Moreover, the researcher will develop and improve this version according to the feedback collected from the community.

~~This is the current roadmap for version 0.2~~

Improved Tooltips. (Design principles that EM2 adopted to create an engaging and ethically sound monetization model that developers can adapt.)
Develop dynamic rates for gacha/lootboxes. In addition to the pity system, the researcher aim to create a dynamic algorithm for high value items. The more the players don’t get high value items, the rates will adjust so that it will get easier for them to get it. The rates will reset to default once they get the high value item. This feature is already implemented.

UI improvements. (Title card, themes, etc.)

~~Version 0.3 roadmap. (These changes are based from suggestions given by testers of version 0.1)~~

Tooltips for Version 0.3 (These tooltips will be based on the gathered feedback from the previous version.)
UI improvements. (Title card, themes, etc.)
Adjustable spending caps. (Current spending cap is fixed).
Improve Player Info window. The info window should have a breakdown and a complete list of the pull history of the players.
Pull History. (In Gacha window)
~~Tutorial.~~

Version 0.5 roadmap. (These changes are based from suggestions given by testers of version 0.3)

Pull 10. (The ability to open 10 boxes at once.)
Minor Gameplay Improvements. (Fixing some issues with attack speed and dash.)
Improve loadout. (Players would be able to see their stats before starting the game.)
UI/UX Improvements.

While the researcher would like to push out more features , it is quite impossible as this is a solo project, so the following are potential improvements that the researcher is aware of but will not prioritize until the core features are implemented:

Dungeon Survivors Gameplay. (New enemy types, boss Battles, better and more exciting powerups, unique passive and skills for different heroes.) While these features will potentially be left out due to lack of manpower, the researcher intentionally made the game really simple and not as fun, to establish the fact that no matter how good your monetization model is, it won’t work if the game is not fun, gameplay is still king.
Different types of monetization. (Skins, Quality of life improvements e.g. more storage slots, etc.)

Changelogs

Version 0.2 (September 18, 2025)
- Added dynamic rates for the gacha system.
- Added tooltips (Guides that help developers design/implement ethical practices to their own monetization model.)
- Fixed Volume settings.
- Some UI improvements.
Version 0.3 (September 28, 2025)
- Added tutorial for Players.
- Streamlined the guide to make it feel like a guide.
- Revamped Player Info.
- Added adjustable spending caps.
- Added Pull history.
Version 0.4 (October 3, 2025)

Added Quests.
Added Achievements.
Added gold requirement for upgrades.
Fixed market price issue.
Fixed audio settings issue.
Added images to the guide and tutorial.

Version 0.41 (Hotfixes) (October 4, 2025)
- Bug Fixes
- Major Performance Fixes
- Reworked Pull History Logic for better performance
- Fixed gameplay bugs (Attackspeed Issues, Dash Issues)
- Added dash button for mobile
- Added View Stats in Loadout Menu

FAQ

Why gacha/lootboxes if you care about Ethical Standards?

Unfortunately, gacha and lootboxes are here to stay due to how lucrative they are. The researchers are just trying to find a way to set some sort of standard for these types of games to force developers adhere to stricter rules to avoid consumer exploitation.

Why was this study started?

Due to the recent successes of indie game developers in the buy-to-play market, the researchers believe that if indie game developers get a hold of a decent foothold in the free-to-play market, it would benefit the consumers if there are more competition in the market. And indie game developers has an advantage compared to big companies, they won't have higher ups breathing down their necks. Executive incompetence is one of the biggest hurdles in creating anything good. The researchers genuinely believe that if more indie developers breakthrough the free-to-play market, the quality of video games will have a major change, which has been on a downward trend in recent years.

What's the difference of EM2 compared to the existing monetization models that utilizes gacha/lootboxes?

EM2 is a community driven model, meaning this is a model for consumers, made by consumers. While most monetization model thinks about how to squeeze out every single penny possible, EM2 prioritizes the consumers over profit margins. The researchers believe that it is not worth to resort to questionable practices just to get the numbers up a bit. Trust is also a currency most companies don't think about that EM2 is trying to get a hold of. The researchers truly believe that goodwill pays and this is the better approach when thinking about the longevity of the business.