This Anime Action RPG Ditches Gacha—and the Dev Says Everyone Wins

Here is something I did not have on my 2024 bingo card: a gacha action RPG deciding it no longer wants to be a gacha game. Pan Studio is ripping the gacha out of Duet Night Abyss, and yes, that means free-to-play without the usual banner-chasing and energy timers. Bold move, possibly obvious in hindsight, but still bold.

What they are cutting, what replaces it

• No more character or weapon banners — the studio says it is removing them across the board.
• No stamina/energy gate — you will not get blocked by a timer when you want to grind.
• Monetization shifts to cosmetics — paid skins and outfits instead of random pulls.

Last month, Pan Studio said it would strip out the usual lottery mechanics and the stamina leash. Translation: you should be able to build a party and gear them up without hitting a paywall or a daily play cap. We still do not know how long it will take to unlock those now-free characters, but in theory the loop gets less painful and more straightforward.

The pitch from the studio

Producer Deca Bear (yes, that is the name he goes by) told Automaton at Tokyo Game Show that this is not just about player goodwill — it is better for the team too. Of course, they know there are risks. When you rip out the thing that prints money, you have to replace it with something that actually makes sense long-term. They say they have a plan and they are working to make both the content and the service match that promise.

The inside-baseball part here is almost funny: the team points out that low banner rates feel bad and stamina blocks are frustrating. True, and also, water is wet. But honestly, if more free-to-play games admitted that up front, we would all be better off.

'By making it so the players do not have to spend too much time or money on the game, there will be more newcomers willing to try it out. If possible, we would like to provide more quality content to our players for a cheap price.'

On the money side, Deca Bear says the game will lean on paid cosmetics like skins and outfits — the kind of stuff people are already used to buying whether they play gacha games or not. He says they have a solid monetization model set up around that.

What is still unclear

The big question is pacing: without banners and energy, how fast do you earn characters, and what does long-term progression feel like? That will come down to how they tune the drop tables for gear, how generous the game is with unlocks, and how cosmetic pricing lands. All of that is implementation detail we will not see until launch.

When you can play it

Duet Night Abyss hits PC and mobile on October 28. I have spent enough time with gacha games to both enjoy them and yell at them, so a free-to-play action RPG that ditches the lottery sounds worth a look. At minimum, it is nice to see a studio try the obvious solution to a problem everyone has been pretending is unsolvable.