No risking the 50/50.
HoYoverse’s newest game reveal surprised a lot of people at Gamescom Opening Night Live, marking a complete departure from the studio’s typical anime-style graphics and swapping them out for hyper-realistic dark fantasy vibes that feel reminiscent of Elden Ring.
Nodusfall is a dark-fantasy cooperative action RPG where players take on the role of Weavers in a world where divine authority has collapsed. According to the press release, players will form squads with different companions and hunt corrupted mythological creatures while trying to restore order to the world.
The game draws inspiration from different mythological traditions, ranging from beasts rooted in Eastern mythology to Western dragons. Combat will allow players to choose different Styles and Skill combinations for their characters, while defeating powerful creatures rewards resources used to unlock new Skills and weapons.
However, one of the biggest questions everyone had after the reveal was: “Does it have gacha?” After all, HoYoverse’s biggest games, including Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero, all involve pulling for characters and risking the dreaded 50/50 pity system to obtain them. Ultimately, whether or not you get a chosen character is up to chance.
It seems there is some good news on that front. In a report by PC Gamer, the Nodusfall developers at Gamescom have confirmed that the game will be free-to-play, but characters will not be obtained through random draws.
Nodusfall
Release date: TBD
Platforms: TBD
Developer: HoYoverse
Will Nodusfall have character gacha?
“Nodusfall will be a free-to-play, long-term game. What we can share at this time is that characters are not obtained through random draws,” the developers said. “We hope to allow players to unlock this core gameplay experience through continued play.”
That means Nodusfall is stepping away from the character gacha system players have come to expect from HoYoverse’s other major free-to-play games. The developers have not yet explained exactly how characters will be unlocked, beyond saying that they want players to gain access to the core gameplay experience through continued play.
What method for monetisation will Nodusfall have?
Of course, that brings up another question: if Nodusfall is free-to-play and characters are not locked behind random pulls, where will HoYoverse make its money?
“Cosmetic monetisation is an important avenue we will be considering,” the developers shared. PC Gamer also shared details on their hands-on time with Nodusfall at Gamescom, with four characters available to play during the demo. According to their report, those characters could be customised with different outfits, hairstyles, and accessories, potentially giving a glimpse at the kind of cosmetics HoYoverse could eventually monetise.
However, HoYoverse has not yet detailed exactly which cosmetics will be sold, how they will be priced, or what Nodusfall’s full monetisation system will look like.
Players who are interested in Nodusfall can pre-register now via the Nodusfall official website.
