Splatoon 3: Shell-Out Machine gacha rituals become a craze among Japanese players

A new trend of performing what one might describe as “gacha rituals” has been spreading among Splatoon 3 players in Japan. The game’s lobby contains a gacha machine called the Shell-Out Machine that players can put in-game currency into to receive an item. This recent trend involves players performing strange and sometimes very elaborate rituals to improve their chances at pulling a good item.

For example, using ink to draw a pentagram on the ground in front of the machine, surrounding the machine with a barrier special, or placing a beacon next to the machine before pulling. Looking around social media, we can see players have come up with a variety of different rituals in an attempt to appease the gacha gods.

The reason more players are performing rituals might have to do with a theory that spread around the community claiming that your chances of pulling a rare item increase when using the machine from behind. One player even reported that they were able to pull a rare item, which seems to have caused an increase in players going behind the Shell-Out Machine to make their gacha pulls.

We can also see a player that wrote out the Japanese word “バカ” (stupid) before going behind the machine to make a pull. It sounds like they were trying to manage aggro by pulling the Shell-Out Machine’s attention one way before sweeping behind and pulling a rare item. They pulled a food ticket.

Players are trying all sorts of ways to somehow get better gacha pulls, but why are they going to such lengths? One reason is that the gacha in Splatoon 3 is expensive. While the first pull of a day is only 5,000 in Cash, subsequent pulls cost 30,000. When you consider the balance of how much currency players earn, it’s not something you can just pull as you please. For that reason, players are going all out to make each use of the Shell-Out Machine count.

The fact that there are rare items that can be obtained through the Shell-Out Machine is likely another factor. It feels good to be able to show off a rare banner or title from the Shell-Out Machine on your Splashtag. Additionally, there are limited-time items, so many players may also be trying to collect those.

For these reasons, players are conducting rituals and praying to the gacha gods in hopes of getting good pulls.

There’s probably no basis for any of these rituals actually increasing one’s chances at a good pull, but it’s interesting to see strange behavior from players regarding gacha become a part of the fan culture. Drawing a pentagram before each gacha pull is probably a tedious process, but for some players out there who want to pull rare items, it’s worth it.

Other games also have gacha rituals that players perform, but thanks to Splatoon 3’s ink shooting, we get to see all sorts of creative ideas. It’s another show of the style and creativity we’ve come to expect from Splatoon fans.

Written by. Nick Mosier based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2022-10-20 18:09 JST)